Mary D. Fisher Theatre is the home for the opera simulcast and encore events
The Mary D. Fisher Theatre is honored to be the home for the Met Live Opera programs for the 2025-2026 season, presented by the Sedona International Film Festival.
The season continues with Strauss’s “Arabella” live via simulcast on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. and the encore presentation on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m.
Plan to come early as John Steinbrunner will lead a pre-opera talk one hour before the LIVE production on Saturday
Strauss’s elegant romance brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th-century Vienna to cinemas worldwide in a sumptuous production by legendary director Otto Schenk that “is as beautiful as one could hope” (The New York Times).
Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen stars as the title heroine, a young noblewoman in search of love on her own terms. Radiant soprano Louise Alder is her sister, Zdenka, and bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny is the dashing count who sweeps Arabella off her feet.
ACT I
Vienna, the 1860s. Arabella is the beautiful daughter of the debt-ridden Count Waldner and his wife. Her sister, Zdenka, has been brought up as a boy to save the family money. As “Zdenko,” she has befriended and secretly fallen in love with Matteo, one of Arabella’s rejected suitors. Waldner has sent a picture of Arabella to his rich friend Mandryka, hoping he will marry her. Instead of the older man, who has died, his nephew and heir, also called Mandryka, appears. He has fallen in love with the picture and asks the stunned Waldner for Arabella’s hand.
ACT II
When Mandryka and Arabella are introduced at a ball that evening, it is love at first sight. Meanwhile “Zdenko,” who is trying to keep Matteo happy, tells him Arabella will meet him in her hotel room later. Overhearing this, Mandryka is appalled. The confused Waldner takes him back to the hotel.
ACT III
Arabella, Matteo, Mandryka, and the Waldners all meet in the hotel lobby. Mandryka is convinced of Arabella’s betrayal, despite her protestations of innocence. The situation is about to get out of hand when suddenly Zdenka appears in a nightgown and confesses that in the darkness of her room she gave herself to Matteo. Matteo is stunned to realize he loves her, not Arabella, and the two are united. Arabella forgives Mandryka, and they renew their promise of love.
The 2025-2026 Met Live Opera season in Sedona is generously sponsored by Chris Fladlien.
The Met Live Opera’s “Arabella” will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. (live simulcast) with an encore on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. The pre-opera talk will take place one hour before the live Saturday simulcast.
Tickets are $25 general admission, $22 for Film Festival members, and $15 for students. Tickets are available in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office or by calling 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.
