Maurizio Muraro News

Gary Naylor enjoys his first experience of opera beamed from the New York Met into the cinemas of the UK. Inevitably, one can hardly go wrong in the company of Seville's celebrated barber, despite quite a few hiccups on the way.

A revival of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia will open at the Met November 18, withLawrence Brownlee as the lovestruck Count Almaviva; Isabel Leonard as Rosina, the feisty ward who captures his heart; andChristopher Maltman in his first Met performances of Figaro, the title barber whose skills extend far beyond hair-cutting.Michele Mariotti conducts the performance, which also stars Maurizio Muraro as Dr. Bartolo and Paata Burchuladze as Don Basilio. Bartlett Sher's acclaimed staging premiered at the Met in 2006. The November 22 matinee performance will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 2,000 movie theaters in 69 countries around the world.

Met Music Director James Levine conducts Mozart's barbed romance Cosi fan tutte, a comic masterpiece about the romantic complications that ensue when a pair of friends decide to test their fiancees' fidelity.

Met Music Director James Levine conducts the first Live in HD performance of Mozart's barbed romance Così fan tutte, a comic masterpiece about the romantic complications that ensue when a pair of friends decide to test their fiancée's fidelity. Lesley Koenig's sleek production features a cast filled with rising Met stars, including Susanna Phillips and Isabel Leonard as the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella; Matthew Polenzani and Rodion Pogossov as their fiancés, Ferrando and Guglielmo; and Danielle de Niese as their feisty maid Despina. Maurizio Muraro is the cynical Don Alfonso.

Met Music Director James Levine conducts the first Live in HD performance of Mozart's barbed romance Così fan tutte, a comic masterpiece about the romantic complications that ensue when a pair of friends decide to test their fiancée's fidelity. Lesley Koenig's sleek production features a cast filled with rising Met stars, including Susanna Phillips and Isabel Leonard as the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella; Matthew Polenzani and Rodion Pogossov as their fiancés, Ferrando and Guglielmo; and Danielle de Niese as their feisty maid Despina. Maurizio Muraro is the cynical Don Alfonso.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will feature 10 productions in the 2013-14 season, offering a significant portion of the Met season to opera lovers around the world.

Check out the excerpt from Act I of Mozart's 'Così fan tutte,' conducted by James Levine in his first Met performance in two years.

Music Director James Levine returns to the Met podium after a two-year absence, greeted by a standing ovation to conducts Mozart's 'Così fan tutte' on September 24, 2013. Check out the video below!

Not many opera performances start with a standing ovation before a single note is sung, but the season's first COSI FAN TUTTE on September 24 was one of those rare occasions. It marked the return of conductor James Levine after a two-year absence, leading the performance from a motorized chair at a specially constructed podium. He had the orchestra—and the audience—in the palm of his hand.

After an absence of more than two years, Music Director James Levine returned to the Met podium in triumph last night, leading the season premiere of Mozart's Così fan tutte. Entering the orchestra pit, the maestro was greeted by a minute-long standing ovation and cheers from the packed house before launching into the performance. Levine, who had been sidelined by health issues, made his comeback with the Met Orchestra in concert at Carnegie Hall last May, but this was his first appearance at the opera house since the end of the 2010–11 season. “[He] led his beloved musicians like a man rejuvenated,” the Associated Press says. “This was prime Levine: a lithe, energetic, transparent account of Mozart's miraculous score, brisk but not rushed, polished and profound. His energy seemed never to flag throughout the long evening.”

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will reach its widest-ever global audience in its eighth season, which begins on October 5 with a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Met Music Director James Levine makes his highly-anticipated return to the screen with Verdi's Falstaff on December 14 and the first Live in HD performance of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte on April 26. The Live in HD series, the world's largest provider of alternative content, reaches more than 1,900 theaters in 64 countries, and offers subtitles in nine languages, including Swedish for the first time this season. To accommodate audience demand in Europe, more than 85 cinemas have been added to the HD network in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will feature 10 productions in the 2013-14 season, offering a significant portion of the Met season to opera lovers around the world.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Donizetti's wartime comedy La Fille du Regiment will return to the Met on December 12, with rising stars Nino Machaidze and Lawrence Brownlee in the leading roles of the tomboy Marie and Tonio, the soldier who loves her.

Donizetti's wartime comedy La Fille du Regiment will return to the Met on December 12, with rising stars Nino Machaidze and Lawrence Brownlee in the leading roles of the tomboy Marie and Tonio, the soldier who loves her.

Rodion Pogossov will sing the title role in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at this evening's performance, replacing Peter Mattei who sang the title role in Don Giovanni last evening and will sing it again this Saturday

Rodion Pogossov will sing the title role in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at this evening's performance, replacing Peter Mattei who sang the title role in Don Giovanni last evening and will sing it again this Saturday

Rossini's comic favorite Il Barbiere di Siviglia returns to the Met today for a 14-performance run featuring two extraordinary casts in Bartlett Sher's hit production. In the first cast, Peter Mattei, who starred in the 2007 Live in HD transmission of the opera, reprises his acclaimed portrayal of Figaro, the jack-of-all-trades whose services to the people of Seville go far beyond cutting hair.