Armida - May 1
Pollak Theatre Monmouth University

Armida – Gioachino Rossini

Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 1 p.m.

Approximate Running Time: 4 hours 20 minutes with 2 intermissions

Encore Date:

Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 7 p.m.

This mythical story of a sorceress who enthralls men in her island prison has inspired operatic settings by a multitude of composers, including Gluck, Haydn, and Dvořák. Renée Fleming stars in the title role of Rossini’s version, opposite no fewer than six tenors. Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman returns to direct this new production of a work she describes as “a buried treasure, a box of jewels.” The fanciful and magical tale, Zimmerman says, “has an epic, enchanted quality and a tremendous visual element.”

Conductor: Riccardo Frizza; Production: Mary Zimmerman; Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Bruce Ford, José Manuel Zapata, Barry Banks, Kobie van Rensburg