Tom Cairns
Based on Charles Dickens’s own performance adaptation, Simon Callow and director-designer Tom Cairns have created a one-man theatrical extravaganza of festive storytelling that is both heart-warming and deeply moving.
Following the rapturous response to his last opera, The Tempest, the Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera.
Alfredo, a young man from the provinces, falls in love with Violetta, the stylish toast of Paris. But she’s not the marrying kind – at least not until now. However, their dreams are threatened by both a merciless society that condemns Violetta’s racy past and an equally merciless disease. Russian soprano Venera Gimadieva portrays the iconic role of Violetta, alongside American tenor Michael Fabiano as Alfredo. The visual beauty of Tom Cairns’s opulent production aptly echoes the irresistible allure of this beloved opera.
A day in the life of a couple trapped in a sadomasochistic relationship. When Marie decides to break up with Bruce, their conversation devolves into a torrent of foul-mouthed rippings and ferociously humorous musings on their marriage, love, hate and committment.
