Are you ready for a walk on the wild side?
The Met: Live in HD has just the tale for you Saturday, Nov. 21.
The lusty opera, Lulu, offers desire, seduction and murder most foul.
Just like most operas, you say?
Lulu, by 20th century composer Alban Berg, is notorious for providing a surfeit of these dramatic features.
The heroine seduces, kills, winds up a prostitute and gets murdered by Jack the Ripper. It’s a case of: she who climbs the highest falls the furthest.
For this Met production, acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge (who also did The Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to a unique woman.
“It’s about Lulu, who goes through many lovers and several husbands and each time there’s impossibility. She can never fulfil all the desires of both being the femme fatale and the faithful quiet wife,” he says.
Taking on the role of Lulu, soprano Marlis Peterson has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de-force title role.
The drama unfolds in Vienna, Paris and London. No time is specified but references and characters like Jack the Ripper suggest a late-19th-century setting.
Berg’s score is a masterpiece of 12-tone music as well as a work of penetrating social commentary in the spirit of much of German theatre in the earlier part of the 20th century.
Showtime is 9:30 a.m. at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre.
Tickets are $27 for adults, $25 for seniors and $22 for students.
Get them in person at the Cowichan Ticket Centre, or by phone 250-748-7529 or online at cowichanpac.ca