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Bellini’s
La Sonnambula
NEW PRODUCTION
Music by Vincenzo Bellini | Libretto by Felice Romani
Live: Saturday, Oct. 18 at 10:00 a.m.
Encore: Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 3:00 p.m.
There will be a pre-opera talk led by John Steinbrunner one hour before the LIVE performance on Saturday.
Conductor: Riccardo Frizza
CAST: Nadine Sierra (Amina), Sydney Mancasola (Lisa), Xabier Anduaga (Elvino), Alexander Vinogradov (Rodolfo)
Following triumphant Live in HD performances in Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette”, Verdi’s “La Traviata” and Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”, Nadine Sierra summits another peak of the soprano repertoire as Amina, who sleepwalks her way into audiences’ hearts in Bellini’s poignant tale of love lost and found. In his new production, Rolando Villazón — the tenor who has embarked on a brilliant second career as a director — retains the opera’s original setting in the Swiss Alps but uses its somnambulant plot to explore the emotional and psychological valleys of the mind. Tenor Xabier Anduaga co-stars as Amina’s fiancé, Elvino, alongside soprano Sydney Mancasola as her rival, Lisa, and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Count Rodolfo. Riccardo Frizza takes the podium for one of opera’s most ravishing works.
ACT I
Preparations are underway for Elvino and Amina’s wedding. Elvino arrives and gives Amina a ring that belonged to his mother. A mysterious stranger appears. Lisa offers to arrange accommodations for him for the night, and the villagers explain that the town is haunted. That night, Lisa identifies the stranger as Count Rodolfo. The two of them flirt, and as Count playfully takes Lisa’s scarf off her, there is a sudden noise, and Lisa hides. Amina enters sleepwalking, conflicted between her love for Elvino and the spirit of the wild, which calls for her to be truly herself. Rodolfo leaves her innocently asleep in the town square and covers her with his robe, but when the villagers arrive, they are shocked. Elvino turns on Amina and calls off the wedding.
ACT II
The villagers decide to visit Count Rodolfo and ask him about Amina’s case. Elvino reproaches Amina and takes his ring from her. He decides to instead marry Lisa and prepares to lead her to the church, but not before Rodolfo arrives, proclaiming Amina’s innocence and explaining that she was only sleepwalking. Lisa declares that at least she was not found wearing another man’s robe. When Teresa produces Lisa’s scarf, Elvino thinks Lisa has lied to him. Amina appears, walking in her sleep and mourning the loss of Elvino. Finally convinced of her innocence, Elvino places the ring back on her finger. Waking, Amina realizes Elvino’s reasserted love for her but feels the call of the wild stronger than ever before. A final discovery cements her decision.
The 2025-2026 Met Live Opera season in Sedona is generously sponsored by Chris Fladlien.