If you can’t bring Costa Rica to New York City, then bring New York City to Costa Rica – via satellite. The Costa Rican- North American Cultural Center in the eastern San José neighborhood of Barrio Dent is beaming operas live from New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House onto its high-definition screen in the Eugene O’Neill Theater.
“Thaïs,” by French composer Jules Massenet, will be shown at the theater tomorrow at 11 a.m., with renowned U.S. soprano Renée Fleming playing the opera’s title character. The plot features the attempts of a monk to convert an Egyptian courtesan to Christianity, before he realizes the lust he feels for her outstrips his religious intentions.
“Thaïs sees her future, that once her beauty leaves she won’t have value in the society she lives in. She is a modern figure and is one of the iconic characters in all of musical literature for sopranos,” Fleming said in a statement.
The cultural center is the first in Latin America to participate in the program “Met Opera in High Definition,” which brings world-class opera to cities in Japan, Australia and other countries. General admission is $25; students and senior citizens pay $20. For more information or to reserve tickets, call 2207-7554.
The next Met opera shown at the cultural center will be Giacomo Puccini’s “La Rondine” Jan. 10.
–Elizabeth Goodwin
