LA TRAVIATA Launches Merola Opera's MEROLA GOES TO THE MOVIES Series Today

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new series that presents great opera-themed movies that have been captured on film.

Each film is preceded by a short, pre-screening talk with a Merola opera expert, who will give an insider's look at the opera and interesting facts about the making of the film.

All screenings start at 1 pm at the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch, located at 100 Larkin St, San Francisco. Admission is free. Screenings are recommended for ages 10 and older.

"I'm excited to bring this new series to the Bay Area," says Jean Kellogg, Merola Opera Program Executive Director. "I hope that we'll see many opera fans, as well as many who would like to learn more about this wonderful art form."

For 56 years, the Merola Opera Program has been regarded as the foremost opera training program for aspiring singers, coaches and stage directors. As the cornerstone of San Francisco Opera's training and performance programs for promising young artists, Merola has served as a proving ground for hundreds of artists, including Ruth Ann Swenson , Deborah Voigt , Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette, Sylvia McNair, Thomas Hampson, Carol Vaness, Joyce DiDonato, Susan Graham, and Dolora Zajick among many others.

The screening schedule is:

Sunday, September 15th

LA TRAVIATA

Starring: Teresa Stratas, Placido Domingo

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Rated G; 112 minutes; 1982

Director Franco Zeffirelli triumphantly captures La Traviata for the screen in this visually stunning, musically thrilling and intensely dramatic marriage of cinema and grand opera. La Traviata opulently portrays the tragic affair of the consumptive courtesan Violetta and her lover Alfredo. In Italian with English subtitles.

Sunday, November 3rd

OTELLO

Starring: Placido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli

Rated PG; 124 minutes; 1986

This stirring drama of love and jealousy, ambition and vengeance is set against the splendor of the 15th century Venetian Republic. Director Franco Zeffirelli has brilliantly transferred to screen, Verdi's operatic interpretation of Shakespeare's masterpiece. In Italian with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 11th

A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Starring: The Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont, Kitty Carlisle

Directed by Sam Wood Black and White; Not Rated; 93 minutes; 1935.

What happens when the Marx Brothers go to the opera? A comedy film classic! There are plenty of high-jinxs and high Cs as Groucho and boys enter high society as they try to secure a major Italian singer for the New York Opera Company! This classic features selections from Il Trovatore and Pagliacci.

Saturday, March 29th

THE MAGIC FLUTE

Starring: Josef Köstlinger, Irma Urrila, Håkan Hagegård, Birgit Nordin

Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Not Rated, 135 minutes; 1975

Ingmar Bergman puts his indelible stamp on Mozart's exquisite opera in this sublime rendering of one of the composer's best-loved works: a celebration of love, forgiveness, and the brotherhood of man. In Swedish with English subtitles.

Saturday, May 24th

Film to be announced

Photo Credit: La Traviata (1982) starring Placido Domingo & Teresa Stratas begins the Merola Goes to the Movies film series, Sunday, September 15th at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch. For more information, visit www.Merola.org.