Opera on the big screen at Sisters Movie House

World-class opera returns to the big screen in Central Oregon when Sisters Movie House presents the Royal Opera House production of Giuseppe Verdi's version of Shakespeare's Otello in an exclusive screening on Sunday, July 16, at 4 p.m. All tickets are $15 and are on sale now.

The opera, featuring German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, is the second in Sisters Movie House's "Summer Sunday Series" of cultural programming and is a Central Oregon exclusive to the locally owned cinema.

The vision of Olivier Award-winning director Keith Warner, the production focuses on the opposition of light and dark, good and evil. Exploring the mental collapse of Otello - urged on by Iago (French baritone Ludovic Tézier) - we see Otello believe that Desdemona (Italian soprano Maria Agresta) has betrayed him. A psychological drama, the characters explore themes of trust and insecurity fuelled by Iago's lies - enemies become allies and friends become foes in this dark drama.

Musically, Verdi draws upon Shakespeare's harrowing text to create a score that carries heart-thumping intensity and the results are thrilling: from the violent storm that opens the opera to Iago's blood-chilling Credo and Otello's increasingly desperate duets with Desdemona. Stylistically simple with sliding walls and shifting scenes by Boris Kudlika, the cast exudes Elizabethan glamour in their contemporary costumes by Kaspar Glaner.

"After Cosi Fan Tutte and Il Trovatore last year, it was tough to come up with an encore, but Jonas Kaufmann is the biggest name in opera today and this is an another amazing production from the Royal Opera House," said Drew Kaza, owner of Sisters Movie House. "We are pleased to be able to bring such world-class culture to Central Oregon at a fraction of the cost of seeing it in person."

Sisters Movie House "Summer Sunday Series" featured a John Coltrane documentary in June and will wrap up in August with a digitally re-mastered re-release of "Monterey Pop" to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the iconic music festival from 1967's "Summer of Love."