James Levine News

On November 29, the Metropolitan Opera Radio Saturday Matinee Broadcasts launches its 78th season of world-class opera heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network with the network premiere of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust.

One of the Metropolitan Opera's popular open rehearsals will take place on November 4 with the final dress rehearsal of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, Robert Lepage's unusual production of a work that was last performed at the Met in 1907.

One of the Metropolitan Opera's popular open rehearsals will take place on November 4 with the final dress rehearsal of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, Robert Lepage's unusual production of a work that was last performed at the Met in 1907.

After an absence of more than 15 years, maestro Seiji Ozawa returns to the Met to conduct six performances of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, from November 21 to December 13, 2008.

The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.

Noted director Robert Lepage makes his Met debut with a technologically innovative new production of Hector Berlioz's masterpiece, La Damnation de Faust, opening on November 7. Music Director James Levine will conduct the first staging of the work at the Met since 1906, with Marcello Giordani in the title role, Susan Graham as Marguerite, and John Relyea as Méphistophélès.

The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.

New York Festival of Song, whose recent 'A Bernstein/Bolcom Celebration' was performed with 'Comic and dramatic flair,'(The New York Times) presents Fugitives, songs by composers who fled Hitler's Europe, on November 18 and 20 at the newly restored Merkin Concert Hall in New York. The program will feature music from Broadway, the concert stage and Berlin cabaret by Kurt Weill, Erich Korngold, Alexander Zemlinsky and many others.

Thanks to the generosity of one of its board members, the Metropolitan Opera announced today that a number of prime orchestra seats, usually $175 - $220, will be available for $30 for all nine performances of John Adams's Doctor Atomic. Agnes Varis, a managing director of the Met board, and her husband Karl Leichtman, have purchased $500,000 worth of some of the best orchestra seats for Doctor Atomic, so that they can be redistributed at this lower price.

Franco Zeffirelli's lavish production of Verdi's poignant masterpiece about love and sacrifice, La Traviata, returns to the Metropolitan Opera stage on October 20 for nine performances through November 20, 2008. Anja Harteros sings the title role for the first time at the Met.

XANADU in Chicago will star Elizabeth Stanley as 'Kira' (played in the film version by Olivia Newton-John), Max Von Essen as 'Sonny,' Sharon Wilkins and Joanna Glushak as the evil Muses 'Melpomene' and 'Calliope,' respectively, and Larry Marshal as 'Danny' (played in the film version by Gene Kelly). XANADU's cast also features Tallia Brinson, Amy Goldberger, Vince Rodriguez III, Jason Michael Snow, Kristofer Stock, JB Wing and Chicagoland-natives Julius Thomas III and Tiffany Topol.

Soprano Karita Mattila, who electrified Met audiences in the title role of Richard Strauss's Salome in 2004, returns as the voluptuous Judean princess this season, beginning September 23.

Continuing its innovative use of electronic media to reach a global audience, the Metropolitan Opera introduces Met Player, a new subscription service that will make its extensive video and audio catalog of full-length performances available to the public for the first time online, and in exceptional, state-of-the-art quality. Beginning on October 22, 120 historic audio recordings and 50 full-length opera videos will be available during the first month of the new service, including over a dozen of the company's acclaimed The Met: Live in HD transmissions, known for their extraordinary sound and picture quality. New content, including HD productions and archival broadcasts, will be added monthly.

Casting is announced for the anticipated Chicago and Midwest premiere of the surprise hit Broadway musical XANADU at the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place. Performances are scheduled to begin January 16, 2009 and individual tickets are now on sale.

The Metropolitan Opera opens its 2008-09 season on September 22 with a gala performance that kicks off its 125th anniversary, starring Renée Fleming in three fully-staged scenes, including some of her most acclaimed portrayals. Costumes for Fleming have been specially created for each of the scenes in the Opening Night Gala by three of the world's legendary fashion designers: John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

The Metropolitan Opera will perform Verdi's Requiem Mass on Thursday, September 18 at 5:00 p.m. in commemoration of the first anniversary of the death of Luciano Pavarotti, who died on September 6, 2007.

Lincoln Center announced today an exciting series of artistic and educational events and initiatives to celebrate its forthcoming 50th anniversary, officially beginning with a ceremony to commemorate the institution's original groundbreaking in 1959 and ending with a campus-wide open house. The anniversary celebration coincides with the physical transformation of Lincoln Center, designed to make the campus a more open, accessible and vibrant urban destination. Ribbon cuttings will be held throughout the year as redevelopment projects are completed.

Two of opera's leading sopranos - both acclaimed for their dramatic and vocal skills - sing the demanding title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for the first time at the Met this season. In the opening performance, October 3, 2008, Diana Damrau - who last season became the first soprano to achieve the feat of singing both leading soprano roles in Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Pamina and the Queen of the Night, in the same Met season - sings the role of Lucia for the first time in her career. Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is her beloved Edgardo in his Met role debut.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2008. Recipients to be honored at the 31st annual national celebration of the arts are: actor Morgan Freeman, singer George Jones, actress and singer Barbra Streisand, choreographer Twyla Tharp, and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who.

Ildar Abdrazakov will be the bass soloist for the Verdi Requiem tribute to Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera on September 18, at 5 p.m. He replaces James Morris, who is ill.