Lamour.png

Film: Kaija Saariaho's opera L'Amour de loin

Saturday, 5/27/2023
2:30 - 5:00
Richmond Meeting Room
Richmond/Senator Milton Marks
Address

351 9th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
United States

Contact Telephone

Finnish born composer Kaija Saariaho's first opera tells the seemingly simple story in 5 acts and with 3 characters of a man's longing for a "love from afar." Inspired by the work of 12th century French troubadour Jaufre Rudel, and with a libretto by contemporary French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, it is a fusion of Western and Eastern perspectives on life, longing and death. In 2019, the Guardian UK included L'Amour de loin in their critics' picks for 25 best classical works of the 21st century. For more information, see the opera's Wikipedia page.

Kaija Saariaho is widely regarded as one of the world's greatest living composers. Her style is characterized by an emphasis on color and texture, with comparisons to Debussy, Messiaen, and associations with the spectral composition movement — immanently ear-friendly. 

Composer: Kaija Saariaho
Conductor: Esa-Pekka Salonen
Orchestra: Finnish National Opera Orchestra
Chorus: Suomen Kansallisoopperan Kuoro
Libretto: Amin Maalouf
Vocals/Cast: Monica Groop, Dawn Upshaw, Gerald Finley
Direction: Peter Sellars

NR, 139 min., 2004. Closed captions (CC) in English.

This one-time video screening made possible with permission from UMe.  


Watch party and film discussions. 

This program honors the diverse cultures, traditions and histories of Southwest Asian and North African heritage.


This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.


Attending Programs

For questions about the program or help registering, contact sfplcpp@sfpl.orgAll programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL or language interpretation), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.


Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.