Opera fans who have been waiting patiently for its return to the East End need wait no more. Divaria Productions will return to Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor with a live performance of "Joan of Arc: The Opera," a multidisciplinary project, on Saturday at 8 p.m.
To double opera lovers' pleasure, "The Met: Live in HD" will return to Bay Street on Oct. 21 with a live telecast of Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking," a Met premiere of a new production by Ivo van Hove. The series will continue on Saturdays through May 11.
Divaria Productions was founded in 2011 to make opera accessible and provide opportunities for emerging artists to perform at a high level. The company has been performing at Bay Street since its 2015 production of "La Traviata."
"Joan of Arc: The Opera" will feature music from both Tchaikovsky's "Maid of Orleans" and Verdi's "Giovanna d'Arco," as well as text from George Bernard Shaw's "St. Joan."
The production stars Victor Starsky from the New York City Opera and San Francisco Opera, and Michael Nansel from New York City Opera, as well as the actors La Rivers as Joan of Arc, and Michael Rudko as Bishop Cauchon. J.A. Diaz and Andrew Bell will direct, and music will be provided by members of the New Asia Chamber Orchestra, with Sergio Martinez Zangroniz at the podium.
Tickets start at $25.
The Met's "Dead Man Walking," with music by Mr. Heggie and a libretto by Terrence McNally, is based on Sister Helen Prejean's 1993 memoir and the 1995 film directed by Tim Robbins and starring Susan Sarandon in an Oscar-winning turn. The production stars Joyce DiDonato as Sister Helen and Ryan McKinny as Joseph De Rocher, the prisoner on Death Row.
"Jake Heggie’s soaring music is easily digested," wrote Zachary Woolfe in The New York Times, "and the storytelling of Terrence McNally’s libretto is crystal clear; its emotions are passionate."
The 2023-2024 season will include two other Met premieres: Anthony Davis's "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X" and Daniel Catan's "Florencia en el Amazonas," the company's first opera in Spanish in almost a century.
It will also feature new productions of Bizet’s "Carmen" and Verdi’s "La Forza del Destino," and revivals of Verdi’s "Nabucco," Gounod’s "Romeo et Juliette," Puccini’s "La Rondine" and "Madama Butterfly."
All programs start at 12:55 p.m. Tickets are $35, $31.50 for students and senior citizens, and $25 for Met Opera members. A pass for all nine programs is $200.
