Screenings of the Met’s Summer HD Fest Cancelled Due to Hurricane Irene

Due to weather reports that predict hurricane-force winds and rain for New York City this weekend, the Metropolitan Opera has cancelled the first two Summer HD Festival outdoor screenings on Lincoln Center Plaza, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The festival will instead open on Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. with a showing of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride starring Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo, conducted by Patrick Summers. The Monday start time is 30 minutes later than originally announced.

The cancelled showings are Donizetti's Don Pasquale on Saturday and Verdi's Simon Boccanegra on Sunday.

The festival, which more than 40,000 people attended last year, features screenings of acclaimed productions from the Met's award-winning Live in HD series. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and no tickets are required; more than 3000 seats will be available. There are no rain dates.

The Met's Summer HD Festival runs through Labor Day, September 5. The schedule is as follows:

Monday, August 29, 8:30 PM: IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE
Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo reprise their starring roles in Gluck's nuanced and elegant interpretation of this classic Greek myth. Tenor Paul Groves also returns to Stephen Wadsworth's production, first seen in 2007. Patrick Summers conducts. Approximate running time: 111 minutes

Tuesday, August 30, 8:00 PM: LA RONDINE
Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna take on the leading roles in Puccini's rarely heard opera, which returned to the Met for the first time in more than 70 years on New Year's Eve 2008. Nicolas Joël's atmospheric production places the action at the time of the opera's premiere in the 1920s. Approximate running time: 113 minutes

Wednesday, August 31, 7:45 PM: NIXON IN CHINA
John Adams conducts the Met premiere of his groundbreaking 1987 work, in a production by longtime collaborator Peter Sellars, in his Met debut. The opera explores the human truths behind the headlines surrounding President Nixon's historic 1972 encounter with Communist China. James Maddalena stars in the title role. Approximate running time: 158 minutes

Thursday, September 1, 7:45 PM: CARMEN
This Live in HD presentation of Bizet's masterpiece, starring El?na Garan?a as the seductive gypsy of the title, drew a record audience for its original transmission. Roberto Alagna is Don José in Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre's hit production, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts in his acclaimed Met debut. Approximate running time: 159 minutes

Friday, September 2, 8:00 PM: LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST
All-American diva Deborah Voigt sings the title role of the "girl of the golden West" in this centennial run of Puccini's opera, which had its world premiere at the Met in 1910. Marcello Giordani is bandit-turned lover Dick Johnson, Lucio Gallo sings Sheriff Jack Rance, and Nicola Luisotti conducts. Approximate running time: 141 minutes

Saturday, September 3, 7:15 PM: BORIS GODUNOV
René Pape takes on one of the greatest bass roles in Stephen Wadsworth's new production. Valery Gergiev conducts Mussorgsky's epic spectacle that captures the suffering and ambition of a nation, with Aleksandrs Antonenko, Vladimir Ognovenko, and Ekaterina Semenchuk also leading the huge cast. Approximate running time: 193 minutes

Sunday, September 4, 8:00 PM: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
Natalie Dessay triumphed as the fragile title heroine of Donizetti's masterpiece when Mary Zimmerman's hit production premiered on Opening Night 2007. This past season, she returned to the role of the innocent young woman driven to madness, opposite Joseph Calleja as her lover, Edgardo and Ludovic Tézier as her brother, Enrico. Approximate running time: 142 minutes

Monday, September 5, 7:15 PM: DON CARLO
Nicholas Hytner's acclaimed new production of Verdi's most ambitious opera stars Roberto Alagna in the title role. The dream cast includes Marina Poplavskaya as Elisabeth, Ferruccio Furlanetto as King Philip, and Simon Keenlyside as Rodrigo. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Approximate running time: 210 minutes

The Met: Live in HD is produced in association with WNET and PBS.