Curated and Introduced by Sunit Tandon and Samaresh Chatterji
Vincenzo Bellini: La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker)
(138 min; 2010; dvd; English subtitles)
With Natalie Dessay (Amina); Juan Diego Florez (Elvino); Michele Pertusi (Count Rodolfo); Jennifer Black (Lisa); Jane Bunnell (Teresa); Jeremy Galyon (Alessio); Bernard Fitch (Notary)
A Metropolitan Opera, New York Production by Mary Zimmerman
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet
Conductor: Evelino Pidò
International bel canto stars Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez play the young lovers in this tale of a young girl whose sleepwalking puts her romance in jeopardy. Mary Zimmerman’s groundbreaking production offers a teasing interplay of reality and fantasy, with the opera set in a modern-day rehearsal room where the players are preparing a traditional staging of the opera. What is unmistakable is the beauty of Bellini’s haunting melodies and a feast of sublime singing from the matchless duo of Dessay and Florez.
Introduced by Sunit Tandon