The Met Summer HD Festival Returns with Live Screenings Today

The Met's Summer HD Festival returns for its fifth year today, August 24, with ten free outdoor screenings of popular performances from the Met's award-winning Live in HD series.

The festival, which more than 40,000 people attended last year, kicks off with a screening of the Met's acclaimed production of Verdi's La Traviata starring Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani, andDmitri Hvorostovsky. Three new productions from the Met's 2012-13 season will be screened in this year's festival: Donizetti's Maria Stuarda starring Joyce DiDonato in the title role, Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera with Sondra Radvanovsky, Marcelo Álvarez, and Hvorostovsky, and Thomas Adès's The Tempest starring Simon Keenlyside. The festival will also feature a variety of operas from past Live in HD seasons, including Massenet's Manon starring Anna Netrebko, Verdi'sOtello with Johan Botha and Renée Fleming, and the Met's popular production of Verdi's Aida, which will close out the festival on Labor Day.

All screenings take place on the Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center and start times are at 8pm, with the exception of Manon, which begins at 7:45pm; the complete schedule is below.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and no tickets are required; more than 3100 seats will be available each evening with additional standing room available on the plaza. There are no rain dates.

The Summer HD Festival is made possible by the Ford Foundation.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation.

Global corporate sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg.

The complete schedule follows:

The Met's Summer HD Festival Schedule

Saturday, August 24, 8:00 PM: LA TRAVIATA
Natalie Dessay stars as Verdi's most popular heroine in Willy Decker's striking production, with Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi on the podium. Matthew Polenzani is Alfredo, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings his father, Germont.
Approximate running time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Sunday, August 25, 8:00 PM: LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
The Met's hit production stars Anna Netrebko in the title role of the innocent young woman caught in an arranged marriage. Piotr Beczala is her lover, Edgardo, and Mariusz Kwiecien sings her brother, Enrico, in Mary Zimmerman's ghost-story staging.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Monday, August 26, 8:00 PM: THE TEMPEST
Thomas Adès conducts his acclaimed opera, based on Shakespeare's final play, in Robert Lepage's stunningly inventive production. Simon Keenlyside leads the cast as Prospero.
Approximate running time: 2 hours

Tuesday, August 27, 8:00 PM: OTELLO
Renée Fleming is Desdemona and Johan Botha sings the title role in Verdi's powerful Shakespeare adaptation, one of the supreme masterpieces of Italian opera. Falk Struckmann is Iago and Semyon Bychkov conducts.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Wednesday, August 28, 8:00 PM: LA CLEMENZA DI TITO

El?na Garan?a, Barbara Frittoli, and Giuseppe Filianoti lead the cast in Mozart's drama set in ancient Rome. Early music specialist Harry Bicket conducts Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's classic production.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Thursday, August 29, 8:00 PM: LA DAMNATION DE FAUST
Met Music Director and Berlioz champion James Levine conducts the composer's rarely staged masterpiece. Robert Lepage's dazzling production, first seen in the 2008-09 season, stars Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, and John Relyea.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Friday, August 30, 8:00 PM: MARIA STUARDA
Joyce DiDonato takes on the tour-de-force title role of Donizetti's opera, opposite Elza van den Heever as her rival, Queen Elizabeth. David McVicar's Met premiere production also stars Matthew Polenzani as Leicester.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Saturday, August 31, 7:45 PM: MANON
Anna Netrebko stars as Massenet's tragic title heroine, opposite Piotr Beczala as her lover, des Grieux, and Paulo Szot as her cousin, Lescaut. Fabio Luisi conducts Laurent Pelly's 2012 production.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Sunday, September 1, 8:00 PM: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
David Alden's 2012 production brings Verdi's drama back to its original Swedish setting, in an early-20th-century film noir atmosphere. Sondra Radvanosvky, Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky star, with Fabio Luisi on the podium.
Approximate running time: 2 hours 20 minutes

Monday, September 2, 8:00 PM: AIDA
The Met's magnificent production of Verdi's Egyptian epic is brought to life by an extraordinary cast, led by Liudmyla Monastyrksa in the title role, Roberto Alagna as Radames, and Olga Borodina as Amneris. Fabio Luisi conducts.
Approximate running time: 1 hour 55 minutes

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