The Met Presents Summer HD Encores, Kicks Off 6/16
By: BWW
News Desk Jun. 16, 2010
Starting next month, the Met will present Summer HD Encores, a series of popular Live in HD screenings from recent seasons, featuring opera's greatest stars in productions of repertory classics. Beginning June 16 and running through July 28, six operas will be shown in more than 400 movie theaters across the United States.
Some of opera's greatest singers star in the six productions of repertory classics: Aida, with Violeta Urmana, Dolora Zajick, and Johan Botha (June 16); Roméo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna (June 23); Eugene Onegin, featuring Renée Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (July 7); La Bohème, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas (July 14); Turandot, with Maria Guleghina and Marcello Giordani (July 21); and Carmen, starring El?na Garan?a and Roberto Alagna (July 28). All screenings will take place on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in each time zone in theaters across the country. Select theaters will present a second showing the day after the initial encore. Tickets are on sale now.
For ticket information, go to www.metopera.org/hdlive.
The Met: Live in HD, the company's award-winning series of opera transmissions into movie theaters around the world, broke attendance records during the 2009-10 season with 2.2 million tickets sold. The series was shown in 44 countries and in more than 1,200 theaters. Next season, Spain and Portugal join the HD network. Since launching the HD series in December 2006, the Metropolitan Opera has become the leading producer of alternative cinema content, selling five million tickets in total. National CineMedia is the Met's U.S. partner in the Live in HD series. Many independent theaters and arts centers also show the series in their theaters. The Met: Live in HD is made possible by a generous grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation. Bloomberg L.P. is the series' global corporate sponsor.
AIDA- Daniele Gatti conducts a cast of powerful voices in Verdi's Aida. Violeta Urmana sings the title role, Dolora Zajick returns in one of her most acclaimed portrayals as Amneris, Johan Botha is Radamès, and Carlo Guelfi sings Amonasro.Wednesday, June 23, 6:30pm
ROMÉO ET JULIETTE- Plácido Domingo conducts Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna as the star-crossed lovers.Wednesday, July 7, 6:30pm
EUGENE ONEGIN - Valery Gergiev conducts Tchaikovsky's operatic masterpiece, with Renée Fleming as Tatiana, Ramón Vargas as Lenski, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role.Wednesday, July 14, 6:30pm
LA BOHÈME- Franco Zeffirelli's classic production of Puccini's La Bohème features Angela Gheorghiu as Mimì, Ramón Vargas as Rodolfo, Ainhoa Arteta as Musetta, and Ludovic Tézier as Marcello. Nicola Luisotti conducts.
TURANDOT- Franco Zeffirelli's spectacular production of Puccini's last opera stars Maria Guleghina as Turandot, Marina Poplavskaya as Liù, Marcello Giordani as Calàf, and Samuel Ramey as Timur. Andris Nelsons conducts.Wednesday, July 28, 6:30pm
CARMEN- Director Richard Eyre's acclaimed new production of the Bizet classic features El?na Garan?a as Carmen, Roberto Alagna as Don José, Barbara Frittoli as Micaëla, and Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Escamillo. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.About the Met
Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company's repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world.
The Met's 2010-11 season, which opens on September 27, will bring seven new productions, including two company premieres (John Adams's Nixon in China and Rossini's Le Comte Ory), as well as the first two installments of a new production of Wagner's epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, conducted by James Levine and directed by Robert Lepage (Das Rheingold and Die Walküre). Also featured will be new productions of three repertory classics- Boris Godunov conducted by Valery Gergiev, directed by Peter Stein, Don Carlo conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and directed by Nicholas Hytner, and La Traviata conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Willy Decker. John Adams will make his Met conducting debut with Nixon in China, with Peter Sellars making his Met directorial debut. Maurizio Benini conducts Le Comte Ory, with Bartlett Sher directing his third production here following his recent successful stagings of IL Barbiere di Siviglia and Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
Building on its 79-year radio broadcast history-currently heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network-the Met now uses advanced media distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world.
The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Met: Live in HD series returns for its fifth season in 2010-11 with eleven transmissions, beginning with the new production of Das Rheingold on October 9. The series continues with Boris Godunov (October 23), Don Pasquale (November 13), Don Carlo (December 11), La Fanciulla del West (January 8), Iphigénie en Tauride (February 26), Lucia di Lammermoor (March 19), Le Comte Ory (April 9), Capriccio (April 23), Il Trovatore (April 30), and Die Walküre (May 14). The Live in HD performances began airing on PBS in March 2008, and 13 HD performances are now available on DVD. The Magic Flute (the inaugural HD transmission, from December 2006) was released by the Met and is available at the Met Opera Shop. In addition, three classic Met performances conducted by James Levine have been released by the Met: Otello, Vickers and Renata Scotto (1978); Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, with Tatiana Troyanos and Plácido Domingo in the first part of the double bill and Teresa Stratas, Domingo, and Sherrill Milnes in the second (1978); and Lulu with Julia Migenes (1980).
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