Theatre offering international opera and movie performances on the big screen

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Three recordings of live opera performances captured on film will be shown at the Center Theatre this summer. Each performance will run only once, during the 2 p.m. matinee on Sundays June 26, July 24, and Aug. 28. Discounts are available for guests purchasing tickets to multiple shows.

In June, the Center Theatre brings the Verdi Requiem Legends Concert to the stage. Originally performed at La Scala in 1967, this production with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro alla Scala was presented in Moscow, Montreal and New York, in addition to Milan. It was recorded on 35mm film in 1967, with the young Luciano Pavarotti replacing Carlo Bergonzi. Together with Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis,” Verdi’s “Requiem” ranks as one of the two supreme achievements in 19th century liturgical music. This is a highly dramatic and emotional work, though not theatrical, due to Verdi’s specification that it “must not be sung the way an opera is sung.”

In July, the four-act “La Damnation De Faust” comes to the Center Theatre stage. Recorded in 2015, this tale, sung in French, followings the aging scholar Faust down into depression and near suicide, and further still, when the Devil offered him a journey, promising him the restoration of his youth, knowledge and the fulfillment of all his wishes. The ensuing journey includes love, abandonment, and a deal with the Devil that leads Faust into the depths of Hell.

The August performance of “Carmen” is based on a novel with the same title. This four-act opera lasts slightly over three hours, with one intermission, and was recorded live in 2015 at the Ancient Greek Theater of Taormina, on the Italian island of Sicily. “Carmen” is a tale of passion, manipulation and ultimately, murder.

“We’re thrilled to be able to bring these world-class performances here to central Maine,” said Patrick Myers, executive director of the Center Theatre. “We’re hoping that the three movies in this series will be well received and we’ll be able to bring more performances like this to Dover-Foxcroft.”

The Center Theatre is a nonprofit performing arts center dedicated to making the arts a part of life in the Maine Highlands. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Center Theatre reopening its doors to produce affordable entertainment, arts and education. For more information, call the Center Theatre at 564-8943, stop by 20 East Main Street between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays or visit www.centertheatre.org.