Anna Netrebko News

French composer Jacques Offenbach was known for silly, sexy and very popular operettas, best exemplified by the famous 'Can-Can' from Orpheus in the Underworld.

A slew of Broadway talent joined in the 32nd annual Kennedy Center Honors on December 6th to honor acclaimed Broadway producer, Mel Brooks. The group included Gary Beach, Matthew Broderick, Richard Kind, Jane Krakowski, Matthew Morrison, Frank Langella and Martin Short. Brooks was honored as a winner of the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to both stage and screen.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2009. Recipients to be honored at the 32nd annual national celebration of the arts are: writer, composer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks; pianist and composer Dave Brubeck; opera singer Grace Bumbry; actor, director, and producer Robert De Niro; and singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen.

The 79th consecutive season of the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts launches on December 12, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. EST with a live performance of Puccini's Il Trittico, starring Patricia Racette singing all three leading soprano roles. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe also appears in the Puccini triple-bill.

The Metropolitan Opera announced plans today to return to Japan for a three-week tour in June 2011, presenting 13 performances of three fully staged operas in Tokyo and Nagoya.

The 79th consecutive season of the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts launches on December 12, 2009 at 12:30 p.m. EST with a live performance of Puccini's Il Trittico, starring Patricia Racette singing all three leading soprano roles.

The Met's new production of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, conducted by Music Director James Levine and directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, premieres on December 3.

The Metropolitan Opera's fourth season of free final dress rehearsals continues on Monday, November 30 with Bartlett Sher's new production of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine.

The Met: HD Live in Schools, the acclaimed educational program that brings live transmissions of opera to students in 18 school districts in 13 states, kicks off its second season on Saturday, November 7, at 1:00 pm with Puccini's Turandot.

Patricia Racette is the first soprano since Teresa Stratas 20 years ago to sing all three leading soprano roles in Puccini's Il Trittico at the Met. Comprised of three one-act operas, Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, Il Trittico returns to the Met in the production by Jack O'Brien that was a popular and critical hit at its premiere in 2007.

Leo Janacek's final opera, From the House of the Dead, has its Metropolitan Opera premiere on November 12 in a new production by celebrated director Patrice Chereau, making his U.S. opera debut.

Franco Zeffirelli's glittering production of Puccini's Turandot returns on October 28 with Maria Guleghina in the title role and Marcello Giordani as Calàf, both singing these demanding roles for the first time in their Met careers. Marina Poplavskaya and Samuel Ramey make company role debuts as Liù and Timur respectively, and conductor Andris Nelsons makes his Met debut.

Tickets for the fourth season of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's popular, award-winning series of live transmissions in movie theaters around the world, are now on sale to the general public in the U.S. The 2009-10 season, featuring nine live opera transmissions, kicks off on Saturday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. ET with a new production of Puccini's Tosca starring Karita Mattila.

Robert Lepage's imaginative production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust, which premiered last season to sold out houses, returns to the Met on October 23. Three stars sing their roles for the first time at the Met: Olga Borodina as Marguerite, Ramón Vargas as Faust, and Ildar Abdrazakov as Méphistophélès.

Opera is exciting, passionate, spectacular - and expensive. 'We're constantly complaining that young people aren't being exposed to opera,' says THT executive director Douglas Anderson, 'but a primary reason is the high ticket price. We wanted to do something about that.'

Renee Fleming and Susan Graham star as the Marschallin and Octavian-reprising the acclaimed portrayals which they last sang together at the Met in 2000-in the revival of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, opening on October 13.

Bartlett Sher?s hit production of Rossini?s comic masterpiece, Il Barbiere di Siviglia (?The Barber of Seville?), returns to the Met stage on October 3. Joyce DiDonato stars in the role of Rosina, with Barry Banks in his first Met performances as Count Almaviva and Rodion Pogossov in his company role debut as Figaro. John Del Carlo sings the role of Dr. Bartolo, and Orlin Anastassov makes his Met role debut as Don Basilio. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Tickets for the fourth season of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's popular, award-winning series of live transmissions in movie theaters around the world, are now on sale at Middlebury's Town Hall Theater.

The Metropolitan Opera's Opening Night Gala performance of Puccini's Tosca, which kicks off the Met season on Monday, September 21, at 6:30 p.m., will be transmitted onto multiple screens in Times Square and to a large screen at Lincoln Center's Josie Robertson Plaza where the live performance will be experienced by thousands of people for free.

Tickets for the fourth season of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's popular, award-winning series of live transmissions in movie theaters around the world, are now on sale to the general public in the U.S. The 2009-10 season, featuring nine live opera transmissions, kicks off on Saturday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. ET with a new production of Puccini's Tosca starring Karita Mattila.