Cultural Center of the Philippines’ The Met: Live HD Season 8 continues with the special screening of Umberto Giordano’s thrilling drama Fedora on 3 October at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 1 in Makati City.

A love story filled with murder, revenge and intrigue, the opera follows Princess Fedora in her quest to avenge her beloved Count. Without her knowledge, the count whom she is madly in love with has betrayed her with another woman, the wife of the alleged murderer. After meeting the murderer and hearing his confession, Fedora realizes that she has fallen in love with the man who killed her betrothed. How would this complicated story unfold, and would Fedora find her happy ever after?

Struggling to pique the interest of modern audiences, Giordano’s masterpiece — which first premiered in 1898 — made a comeback in 2022, with the Metropolitan Theatre of New York taking it out of their repository after 25 years and giving it a fresh appeal.

Fedora features a cast of electrifying voices, led by soprano Sonya Yoncheva, one of today’s most riveting artists, playing Fedora, and star tenor Piotr Beczała playing Count Loris. Completing the cast are Rosa Feola as Olga, Piotr Beczala as Loris Ipanoff and Lucas Meachem as De Siriex. Maestro Marco Armiliato conducts.

Director David McVicar delivers a detailed and dramatic staging based around an ingenious fixed set that, like a Russian nesting doll, unfolds to reveal the opera’s three distinctive settings — a palace in Saint Petersburg, a fashionable Parisian salon, and a picturesque villa in the Swiss Alps.

The three-act opera is known for its “Amor ti vieta” (Love forbids you) aria, which is often sung by tenors. The short aria, less than two minutes long, is sung by Count Loris when he declares his love to Fedora in Act II.

The CCP’s The Met: Live in HD is a special program of the CCP Film, Broadcast and New Media Division under the Production and Exhibition Department, showcasing operatic productions through the high-definition digital video technology and Dolby Sound, recreating the experience of watching an opera production at the Met “live.” The program is co-presented by the CCP, the Metropolitan Opera of New York, the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc. and Ayala Malls Cinemas.

Tickets are priced at P450. Students and young professionals may enjoy the screenings at P100 upon presentation of a valid ID. Tickets are available at Greenbelt ticket booths and the website www.sureseats.com.