Operas / Ballets at Camera 3 Entertainment

Extended! European Opera and Ballet in Cinema

Presented by Emerging Pictures, our Opera and Ballet in Cinema series is now located at Camera 3 Entertainment, at the corner of Second and San Carlos Streets in downtown San Jose -- Silicon Valley's center of arts and culture. See acclaimed new productions of popular opera and ballet titles, featuring the world's greatest stars and companies, Sundays at 12:15pm with encore screenings the following Tuesday at 7:00pm

Single tickets are just $17, with a $15 per ticket subscription price when three or more shows are purchased. Partake in specialty coffees or beer and wine in the lobby before and after the show. And of course, we offer 3 hrs 40 min. of FREE validated parking in the attached, covered parking garage. Just present your same day ticket purchase at the box office. Not that these are special events, and no discount cards, group discount booklets, or passes will be accepted.

From La Scala in Milan, to the world-famous Salzburg and Glyndebourne Festivals in Austria and England, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Kirov and Bolshoi in Russia, Camera Cinemas brings to you a virtual front row seat to the world's finest opera and ballet. Bravo!

We reserve the right to exercise special pricing options for unique in-theatre experiences. These are special engagements. Passes, discount cards, group discount tickets, and re-admits will not be accepted.

OPERA and BALLET Schedule (click on film title to purchase tickets now, or purchase at box office) -- Please Note: Tickets for all operas/ballets after CARMEN are not yet available

June 23 (12:15pm) & 25 (7:00pm)

Nabucco (Verdi) -- The Royal Opera House, London
Genre: OPERA (new production)
Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes (1 intermission)
Conductor: Nicola Luisotti
Director: Daniele Abbado
Designs: Alison Chitty
Lighting Design: Alessandro Carletti
Movement: Simona Bucci
Video designs: Luca Scarzella
Cast: Nabucco (Placido Domingo), Ismaele (Andrea Care), Zaccaria (Liudmyla Monastyrska), Fenena (Marianna Pizzolato)
Synopsis: Placido Domingo, one of the most celebrated talents of our time, stars in this genre-defining masterwork, containing some of the greatest choral music ever written, along with some wonderful arias and ensembles. Based on the biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar, focusing on his imprisonment of the Hebrews, his struggle against his unscrupulous and power hungry daughter, Abigaille, his divine punishment and final salvation. Verdi's rich score offers melody, power and raw drama on a scale that does full justice to the opera's epic themes of nationhood, faith, love and redemption.

July 14 (12:15pm) & 16 (7:00pm)

Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev) -- Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow, Russia
Genre: BALLET (new production)
Running time: 2 hrs, 30 min (1 intermission)
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Libretto: Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Roadlov, Adrian Piotrovsky
Choreography: Yuri Grigorovich
Assistant Choreographer: Vasily Vorokhobko
Scenery and Costumes: Simon Virsaladze
Lighting Design: Mikhail Sokolov
Conductor: Andrei Anikhanov
Cast: Romeo (Alexander Volchkov), Juliet (Anna Nikulina), Signor Capulet (Vitaly Biktimorov), Signor Montague (Alexei Loparevich), Signora Capulet (Kristina Karasyova), Tybalt (Mikhail Lobukhin), Mercutio (Andrei Bolotin), Duke of Verona (Andrei Sitnikov), Count Paris (Valadislav Lantratov), Friar Lawrence (Alexei Loparevich), Juliet's Nurse (Anna Antropova)
Synopsis: One of the most brilliant and popular ballet scores ever written. To Prince Escalus’ dismay, the rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues brings bloodshed to the city of Verona. Romeo, heir of the Montagues, is distraught as his love for Rosaline is not returned. To console him, his friend Mercutio persuades him to attend the ball Capulet has organized to find possible suitors for his daughter Juliet. Romeo attends the ball incognito at the Capulet house. However, when Romeo meets Juliet, the two fall instantly in love with each other. They are overwhelmed when they discover they belong to two rival families...

July 28 (12:15pm) & 30 (7:00pm)

Don Giovanni (Mozart) -- Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy
Genre: OPERA (new production)
Running time: 3 hrs, 30 mins (1 intermission)
Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Staging: Robert Carsen
Sets: Michael Levine
Costumes: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lights: Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet
Choreography: Philippe Giraudeau
Cast: Don Giovanni (Peter Mattei), Donna Anna (Anna Netrebko), Don Ottavio (Giuseppe Filianoti), Donna Elvira (Barbara Frittoli), Leporello (Bryn Terfel), Zerlina (Anna Prohaska), Masetto (Stefan Kocan).
Synopsis: Mozart’s ultimate bad boy meets his match in Anna Netrebko, the opera world’s “hottest female star.” Don Giovanni stars Peter Mattei as the philandering Don, with Bryn Terfel as his sidekick Leporello, and the velvety voiced Ms. Netrebko as the much-abused Donna Anna. This audience favorite is known for both its surprisingly modern plot and soaring melodies,.

August 11 (12:15pm) & 13 (7:00pm)

Aida (Verdi) -- Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy
Genre: OPERA (new production)
Running time: 3 hours (1 intermission)
Libretto: Antonio Ghislanzoni
Conductor: Riccardo Chailly
Staging and Scenic Design: Franco Zeffirelli
Costumes: Maurizio Millenotti
Choreography: Vladimir Vassiliev
Cast: The King (Marco Spotti), Amneris (Ildiko Komlosi), Aida (Violeta Urmana), Radames (Roberto Alagna), Ramfis (Giorgio Giuseppini), Amonasro (Carlo Guelfi), Messenger (Antonello Ceron), Priestess (Sae Kyung Rim)
Synopsis: Verdi’s Aida is one of the most popular operas of all time. It premiered at the Cairo Opera House on Christmas Eve, 1871, and was an immediate commercial success. The plot of Aida is filled with political intrigue, love, betrayal, passion, and vengeance, and has captivated audiences for generations. Franco Zeffirelli brings his trademark extravagance this production, which features an ensemble of over 300 actors, singers and dancers – truly living up to Aida’s reputation as “an intimate chamber opera, with a circus in the middle.” This performance was rewarded with a 13 minute ovation at the conclusion of the opera.

August 25 (12:15pm) & 27 (7:00pm)

La Bayadere (Minkus) -- Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow, Russia
Genre: BALLET (new production)
Running time: 3 hrs, 30 mins (2 intermissions)
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Libretto: Marius Petipa and Sergei Khudekov
Conductor: Pavel Sorokin
Choreography: Marius Petipa
New Scenic Version: Yuri Grigorovich
Costumes: Nikolai Sviridchikov
Scenery: Valery Levental
Music Director: Alexander Kopylov
Cast: Nikia (Svetlana Zakharova), Dugmanta, Rajah (Alexie Loparevich), Gamzatti (Maria Alexandrova), Solor, the Noble Warrior (Vladislav Lantratov), The High Brahmin (Andrei Sitnikov), Aya, Slave (Anastasia Vinokur), Dance with Drum (Anna Antropova), The Bronze Idol (Denis Medvedev), Manu (Maria Prorvich)
Synopsis: Marius Petipa (France 1818-1910) is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet in history. Marius Petipa's seminal work La Bayadère was first performed at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1877 in a grandiose production portraying a mysterious India and the impossible love between the sacred dancer Nikiya and the warrior Solor. A scene from the ballet, known as The Kingdom of the Shades, is one of the most celebrated excerpts in all of classical ballet, and is considered to be one of the first examples of abstract ballet. Although a major work in Russian tradition, the ballet remained unknown for a long time in the West.

September 15 (12:15pm) & 17 (7:00 pm)

La Traviata (Verdi) -- Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy
Genre: OPERA (new production)
Running time: 2 hours, 30 mins (one intermission)
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave
Conductor: Lorin Maazel
Director: Liliana Cavani
Scenic Design: Dante Ferretti
Costume Design: Gabriella Pescucci
Cast: Violetta Valery (Angela Gheorghiu), Flora (Tiziana Tramonti), Annina (Natascha Petrinksy), Alfredo Germont (Ramon Vargas), Giorgio Germont (Roberto Frontali), Gastone (Enrico Cossutta), Baron Douphol (Alessandro Paliaga), Marchese D'Obigny (Piero Terranova), Dottor Grenvil (Luigi Roni)
Synopsis: In this repertoire favorite, courtesan Violetta Valery meets a new admirer, Alfredo Germont, who confesses his love. Trouble brews when Alfredo's father demands that she renounce his son since the scandal of Alfredo's affair has threatened his own daughter's engagement. Violetta resists but eventually agrees, not wanting any harm to come to Alfredo or his family. Despite her undying love, she leaves word to Alfredo that she no longer loves him, in an effort to help him move on. Back in Paris, Alfredo denounces his former love cruelly, and months later, Violetta, deathly ill with tuberculosis, has only days to live. Alfredo and his father become contrite when they learn the truth about Violetta's selfless love, but it may already be too late to ask her forgiveness.