James Levine News

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, will present the first Making Connections session of the 2009-2010 season on Wednesday, September 30 at 6:30 p.m. Making Connections is OPERA America's professional development program for early-career opera artists, including singers, composers, librettists, designers and directors. ??

Operatic comedy at its most appealing opens the 2009/10 L.A. Opera season. A magic love potion and destiny decide the fate of a love triangle involving a small-town bumpkin, a dashing sergeant and the bewitching town flirt in one of opera's most popular comedies. Filled with light-hearted charm and bursting with feel-good laughs, Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love features effervescent Italian melodies and plenty of bel canto vocal fireworks.

Metropolitan Opera Music Director James Levine will have back surgery this week to repair a herniated disc.

Joseph Colaneri will conduct this evening's performance of Tosca, replacing James Levine who has withdrawn due to a back injury.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, will present the first Making Connections session of the 2009-2010 season on Wednesday, September 30 at 6:30 p.m. Making Connections is OPERA America's professional development program for early-career opera artists, including singers, composers, librettists, designers and directors. ??

Carlo Guelfi will sing Scarpia in this evening's performance of Puccini's Tosca, replacing George Gagnidze, who is ill. Gagnidze is expected to return for the October 3 performance.

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.

Mozart's enchanting masterpiece, Die Zauberflöte ('The Magic Flute'), returns to the Met on September 23 in the acclaimed production by Julie Taymor, performed in its original German-language version.

Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met repertory on September 22 with some of opera's most notable young talent, many of them in company debuts or new roles. Danielle de Niese sings Susanna at the Met for the first time, paired with the Figaro of John Relyea, who received the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers earlier this year.

MILLER THEATRE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY opens its 2009-2010 season with The Blue Rider In Performance, Co-produced with Works & Process at the Guggenheim · Mary Sharp Cronson, producer. In conjunction with Kandinsky, on view at the Guggenheim Museum starting September 18.

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.

Baritone George Gagnidze will sing Scarpia in the premiere of the Met's new production of Puccini's Tosca, which opens the 2009-10 season on September 21, 2009. He replaces Juha Uusitalo, who has withdrawn due to illness.

Operatic comedy at its most appealing opens the 2009/10 L.A. Opera season. A magic love potion and destiny decide the fate of a love triangle involving a small-town bumpkin, a dashing sergeant and the bewitching town flirt in one of opera's most popular comedies. Filled with light-hearted charm and bursting with feel-good laughs, Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love features effervescent Italian melodies and plenty of bel canto vocal fireworks.

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.

The Metropolitan Opera will present a free outdoor Summer HD Festival featuring ten of its award winning productions from the popular The Met: Live in HD series. The HD performances will be shown on a giant screen in front of the opera house in Lincoln Center Plaza for ten consecutive nights Saturday, August 29 through Monday, September 7.

The Metropolitan Opera's fourth season of free final dress rehearsals begins on September 17 with its new, opening night production of Puccini's Tosca starring Karita Mattila. Met Music Director James Levine conducts, and noted European theater director Luc Bondy makes his Met debut with this production.

Verdi's grand Egyptian pageant, Aida, returns to the Met stage with soprano Violeta Urmana singing the title role for the first time with the company and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick as Amneris, one of her most renowned interpretations.

Mozart's enchanting masterpiece, Die Zauberflöte ('The Magic Flute'), returns to the Met on September 23 in the acclaimed production by Julie Taymor, performed in its original German-language version.