In Hi-Def at the Mountain Cinema

Date: Saturday, May 2 at 8pm
Tickets: $20
Location: Mountain Cinema in the Doctorow Center for the Arts, Rte. 23A, Village of Hunter, NY
Information: 518-263-2002 (recorded information) or 518-263-4702 (during hours of operation)

Hector Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, a French opera written in the 1830s, is so complex, richly detailed and prolifically imaginative that Berlioz's contemporaries often considered it unplayable. However, this is resoundingly proven false in the 2007 Salzburg Festival production of director Philipp Stölzl, conductor Valery Gergiev ("the wild man of music") and a high-caliber cast accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic and its chorus. Called "the surprise hit of this year's Salzburg festival" (Bloomberg), the production met with rave reviews.

The opera tells the story of Pope Clement VII who requests a statue from the Sculptor Benvenuto Cellini. However, Balducci wants Fieramosca as the sculptor and to marry his daughter Teresa, who is in love with Cellini. When Cellini attempts to escape with Teresa he stabs a man. He is given an offer by the Pope: finish the statue that night or hang. Cellini does finish and him and Teresa marry.