Prior to the local Met Live in HD simulcast of Thomas Adès’s new opera The Exterminating Angel, UE music professor James Sullivan will give a pre-simulcast lecture on the opera. The opera is an adaptation of Luis Buñuel’s 1962 surrealist film by the same name, in which the guests at an upper-class dinner party find themselves inexplicably unable to leave. The party quickly descends into madness and chaos, and Adès’s musical adaptation viscerally amplifies both the humor and the horror of the original screenplay.

Dr. Sullivan, who specializes in the music of Thomas Adès, attended the American premiere and is giving the presentation with the support of an Art, Research, and Teaching Grant from the University of Evansville. Also with the support of the grant, he will be bringing UE music students to see the opera’s local simulcast.

The lecture will take place on Thursday, November 16, at 5:00 pm in Krannert Hall, FA 142 and is open to the public. Those attending the lecture may wish to attend the opera’s simulcast on Saturday, November 18, at 11:55 am at the AMC 16 Movie Theater.