Published30 Aug 2016
Tickets for Opera on the Mall broadcast of Puccini’s lavish Turandot available starting Wednesday, September 7
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MoreFREE, HD Broadcast presented through PNC Arts Alive takes place at Independence National Historical Park on Saturday, Oct. 1
FREE tickets to Opera Philadelphia’s HD broadcast of Turandot will be available to the public starting on Wednesday, September 7. You can score your free tickets to Opera on the Mall beginning at 10 a.m. at operaonthemall.org. Everyone who registers will be entered to win an Opera Philadelphia subscription for two to the spring 2017 Opera at the Academy series, featuring productions of Rossini’s Tancredi and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
In what has become a beloved annual tradition to launch the fall cultural season in Philadelphia, our community will gather together on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7:00 p.m., to enjoy one of the most popular operas of all time. Opera Philadelphia’s season-opening performance of Puccini’s final masterpiece will be broadcast in high definition from the stage of the Academy of Music to three giant outdoor screens in the shadow of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Now in its sixth year, Opera on the Mall has been enjoyed by nearly 20,000 members of the Philadelphia community.
Puccini’s final work is one of his grandest, featuring beautiful locales, forbidden romance, and gorgeous melodies, including the rousing anthem “Nessun dorma.” Opera Philadelphia’s kaleidoscopic co-production features stunning sets, costumes, and choreography.
In ancient China, Princess Turandot is an enigmatic beauty who reigns with an iron fist and an ice-cold heart. To her would-be suitors, she has issued a decree: he who can answer her riddles will win her hand—-all others will suffer punishment by death. When a mysterious man passes her test, will she finally open her heart to love?
Hailed as “a multi-hued miracle of gale-force power” (The Wall Street Journal), Christine Goerke brings her “rich and full sound” (The New York Times) to the title role of Princess Turandot, with superb Italian tenor Marco Berti making his Opera Philadelphia debut as her would-be love, Prince Calaf. Joyce El-Khoury brings the “genuine radiance” (Opera News) of her soprano to the role of Liù, the slave girl whose love for Calaf is unrequited. Opera Philadelphia favorite Morris Robinson, who dazzled in recent roles in Don Carlo and Nabucco, returns as the deposed king, Timur. Renaud Doucet directs the colorful production, with Jack Mulroney Music Director Corrado Rovaris conducting the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.
This is the sixth year Opera Philadelphia will launch its season with a free broadcast at Independence National Historical Park. Last year, some 6,000 guests enjoyed a broadcast of Verdi’s La traviata from their picnic blankets and chairs. Event information is available at operaonthemall.org or by calling 215.732.8400.
Opera on the Mall is presented through PNC Arts Alive, a multi-year grant initiative of the PNC Foundation that challenges visual and performing arts organizations to put forth their best, most original thinking in expanding audience participation and engagement. To date, this award-winning program has provided approximately $13 million in grants to enterprising cultural organizations in three regions served by PNC. For more information, visit www.pncartsalive.com.