Reviews

York’s City Screen is one of just over a dozen cinemas across Britain showing live matinee broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

The Met’s general manager Peter Gelb is the driving force behind the special performances. They’re part of his attempt to broaden opera’s appeal and find new audience for what is traditionally an elitist art form.

Zelijko Luic & Maria Guleghina (Met Opera)

What’s it like going to watch an opera at the cinema? I wanted to find out, so bought tickets for Verdi's Macbeth. It's the third in 'The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD' series of eight performances at the City Screen. I managed to buy the last pair of tickets, evidently word had spread…

The audience certainly weren’t the typical Saturday night at the flicks crowd, there was more Barbour than Burberry on display. Exquisite politeness ruled OK in the queue for interval drinks and popcorn.

The tone for the evening was set by the last minute interview with maestro James Levine moments before he joined the orchestra in the pit. Absolutely fascinating, the first of many insights into the army of people working on this epic production.

If like me, you don't have a great knowledge of opera, these cinema broadcasts really do open a door to the genre. There are subtitles, the seats are comfy, it's on your doorstep, there’s no dress code plus the superb High Definition broadcast and slick photography means I'm getting a view that no opera glasses could afford me, no matter how expensive the seat!

Combine the reasons above with the fact that my other half was able to sup his pint of real ale and nip out for a Cornish pasty in the interval, and you begin to grasp what an unexpected success this evening was.

As for the opera itself, the star of the show was undoubtedly the blood-thirsty Lady Macbeth, passionately performed by Maria Guleghina. Rather than the typically waspish and wiry Lady Macbeths I've seen in the past, Maria’s barefoot portrayal was sensual, voluptuous and utterly captivating.

In all, watching this live performance of Verdi’s Macbeth from New York in old York was a surprisingly successful marriage of convenience and quality. The only aspect I wasn't convinced of was whether the audience at the City Screen should applaud or not?

Nick Lawrence