MOSES AND ARRON Concludes Opera Matters Program On 1/25

Cinematic Opera/Operatic Cinema: Reflections on the Merging of Media, a collaboration between New York City Opera and the Film Society of Lincoln Center that is part of City Opera's Opera Matters program, will be concluded on January 25th with screening of Moses and Aaron.

This four-part series, which will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, will investigate the affinities between film and opera through the screening of three films; each introduced and followed by a talk and Q&A with an esteemed film expert. The series, programmed by Richard Peña, Program Director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and Cori Ellison, Dramaturg at New York City Opera, culminates on January 25th.

The relationship between opera and film dates back to the silent-film era, when opera storylines were filmed and distributed with synchronized phonograph records or cues for live musical accompaniment.

Single screening tickets for Cinematic Opera/Operatic Cinema are $35; a series pass is $100 and admits one person to all four films. Tickets and passes may be purchased at the Walter Reade Theater box office (cash only) and online at filmlinc.com

A complimentary reception in the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery will follow each event.

Cinematic Opera / Operatic Cinema: Reflections on the Merging of Media, which is presented by New York City Opera and the Film Society of Lincoln Center will be taking place on Sunday, January 25, 2009, at 2:00pm.

Moses und Aron / Moses and Aaron

Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, Austria/France/West Germany/Italy, 1975; 107 min.

Special guest speaker: David Levin, Associate Professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago and executive editor of Opera Quarterly.

Written between 1930 and 1932—right before Arnold Schönberg would be forced into exile from Germany and on the eve of his rediscovery of Judaism—Moses and Aaron follows the two Biblical brothers as they vie for power and influence over the tribes of Israel. For Moses, revelation and faith are enough. Aaron believes the people need something concrete to direct their belief. Schönberg's 12-tone music receives a perfect complement in Straub/Huillet's minimalist direction, as the camerawork becomes the directors' commentary on the oscillating power struggle at the heart of the opera. "Moses and Aaron is both a faithful rendering of Schönberg's opera and an original film in its own right. With the same musicians from the recent Philips recording, Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub have succeeded in rendering visible not only the philosophical content of the work—the struggle between word and image—but also its dramatic potential."—13th New York Film Festival.

Cinematic Opera/Operatic Cinema is part of New York City Opera's program Opera Matters, a series of far-reaching programs that City Opera is presenting throughout New York City in 2008/2009, as its home, the New York State Theater, undergoes an historic renovation.  Opera Matters brings together prominent artists, scholars and celebrities from diverse artistic and cultural communities to reveal opera's vital place in today's cultural dialogue. Curated by City Opera's dramaturg Cori Ellison, the series of lively, informal events combining conversation, media, and live music will comprise collaborations highlighting opera's dynamic relationship with other contemporary art forms in partnership with the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Paley Center for Media, and the New York Public Library.