The favorite stage of Maria Callas and the spot where Verdi's "Otello" premiered, the 1778 La Scala Opera House, is considered among the finest in the world. The trouble is, opera tickets to this gilded jewel box start at 50 euros (close to $70) -- and that's after air fare to Milan, Italy.
For opera buffs who want a taste of La Scala without the expense, the Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights is offering an intriguing alternative through Aug. 29: high-definition screenings of recent European opera performances.
The series includes two showings each of eight productions, including "Carmen" (from La Scala), "Aida" (from the Bergenz Festival), and "Simon Boccanegra" (from La Scala). There will also be two showings of "Swan Lake" as recently performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Tickets are $20.
The production recordings are coming from a New York company, Emerging Pictures, which aligned with some of the most famed opera houses in Europe. This came after the Metropolitan Opera in New York decided to distribute its "Live at the Met" recordings through NCM Fathom, which works almost exclusively with multiplex venues.
"Emerging Pictures works with the more independent art house theaters, like us," said Heights owner Tom Letness, who made significant technological upgrades early this year to accommodate Emerging Pictures' technology, including the purchase of a three-chip DLP digital video projector.
When the new projector is running, with 12,000 lumens of lighting power behind it, the elaborate proscenium around the Heights' stage gets its own soft lighting. The recordings are cinematic in nature, following the characters' movements and expressions. "It's not like they plunked a camera on the stage and that's it," says Letness.
Before the screenings, fans can take in the Heights' operatic surroundings, including a restored lobby with a pressed tin ceiling and plaster ceiling medallions. Inside the screening room are four enormous chandeliers with horsetail tassels, hanging crystal ropes and drops, and three tiers of flickering electric candles.
Gradually restored over the past 12 years, the Heights Theatre has several nods to Minnesota and Upper Midwest history, such as a cream-colored organ that was salvaged from the old WCCO radio studio, and an art deco silk curtain with elaborate stenciling that was rescued from the Grand Forks Orpheum. It adds up to a mood that seems right for opera.
"Our motto for the series is, 'Opera at the Heights: You're There,'" says Letness.
Alyssa Ford is a Minneapolis free-lance writer.
