Met’s Final Dress Rehearsal of Anna Bolena To Be Free And Open To Public

The Metropolitan Opera's sixth season of free open dress rehearsals begins on September 22 with the company premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, starring Anna Netrebko in the title role. The production, which opens the Met's 2011-12 season, is directed by David McVicar and conducted by Marco Armiliato. The dress rehearsal begins at 11 a.m.

The 2,500 free tickets, limited to two per person, will be distributed through an online drawing held on the Met's website at www.metopera.org. Registration for tickets begins Friday, September 9 and runs through Thursday, September 15. Winners will be announced on the Met's website on Friday, September 16.

Anna Bolena, a thrilling dramatization of the tragic final days of Anne Boleyn, features Netrebko in her first North American performances of the tour-de-force title role. The cast also stars Ekaterina Gubanova as GiovAnna Seymour, Tamara Mumford as Smeton, Stephen Costello as Lord Percy, and Ildar Abdrazakov as Enrico (Henry VIII). Rising soprano Angela Meade takes over the title role in later performances.

Anna Bolena runs for ten performances through October 28, returning for two performances in February. The October 15 matinee will be transmitted live to 1600 movie theaters in 51 countries around the world through The Met: Live in HD.

Anna Bolena is the first of three open final dress rehearsals offered in the 2011-12 season. The second open dress rehearsal will be held Wednesday, December 28 at 10:30 a.m. for the world premiere production of The Enchanted Island, a new work that combines music by Baroque masters such as Handel, Vivaldi, and Rameau with a story drawn from Shakespeare. The Enchanted Island, devised and written by Jeremy Sams and conducted by William Christie, stars Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels, Plácido Domingo, Danielle De Niese, and Luca Pisaroni.
The third and final open dress rehearsal of the season will be held Tuesday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m. for the first revival of Willy Decker's boldly theatrical staging of La Traviata, starring Natalie Dessay in her first Met performances of the iconic title role. All performances of La Traviata this season will be led by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi in his first time conducting the opera at the Met.

More details and ticket distribution information for the open dress rehearsals of The Enchanted Island and La Traviata will be available at a later date.

The Met's open dress rehearsals are generously supported by The Agnes Varis Trust, which also underwrites the Met's popular Rush Ticket program and sponsors the Met's outdoor campaign to launch the 2011-12 season.

For more information, including video interviews and bios of the Anna Bolena performers and production team, and general information about the Met season, please visit www.metoperafamily.org/

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