The regular season just ended for the Metropolitan Opera--all that's left is a series of HD rebroadcasts on Lincoln Center Plaza and a couple of low profile concerts in New York City parks--and it's time for a look back at what kind of season it was. With seven new productions and 21 other operas in rep during a season that ran from the end of September to mid-May, the Met was nothing if not far-reaching in its repertoire. And that's the way it should be. But how did its ambitions work out?
Beginning Wednesday, June 19, the Metropolitan Opera and NCM Fathom Events will once again present Summer HD Encores, a series of encore performances from the groundbreaking Live in HD series, in nearly 400 select U.S. cinemas nationwide
The Met: Live in HD will broadcast David Daniels and Natalie Dessay as Caesar and Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, transmitted live to your local movie theater today, April 27 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT (find local theaters: U.S. International). THE MET: LIVE IN HD
The Met: Live in HD opera series will present Giulio Cesare by George Frideric Handel, to be broadcast live on the Peterborough Players big screen today, April 27, 2013, at noon. This is the final opera of the 2012-13 series. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students.
The Celebrity Series of Boston announced its 2013-2014, 75th anniversary season
today, marking 75 years of bringing the world's greatest performing artists to Boston. Celebrity Series has a deep commitment to presenting vocal recitals by some of the most renowned singers in the genre, and the 2013-2014 season includes recitals by: soprano Deborah Voigt, baritone Gerald Finley, soprano Natalie Dessay, tenor Nicholas Phan and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
The Met: Live in HD will broadcast David Daniels and Natalie Dessay as Caesar and Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, transmitted live to your local movie theater on Saturday, April 27 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.
The Met: Live in HD opera series will present Giulio Cesare by George Frideric Handel, to be broadcast live on the Peterborough Players big screen on Saturday, April 27, 2013, at noon. This is the final opera of the 2012-13 series. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for students.
The groans were audible--no, powerful--when the Metropolitan Opera's General Manager Peter Gelb stepped out in front of the curtain on the second night of the company's new David McVicar production of Handel's GIULIO CESARE. They grew louder as he announced that soprano Natalie Dessay was ill and would not be singing the pivotal role of Cleopatra. But I'd bet that these same operagoers were cheering along with the majority of the audience at the sensational portrayal of the replacement, soprano Danielle de Niese, whose brilliant coloratura took the runs, roulades and trills of this demanding score with ease.
Sir David McVicar's witty and efferverscent production of Handel's most popular opera, GIULIO CESARE, arrives at the Met with Natalie Dessay and David Daniels in the leading roles and Harry Bicket on the podium. BroadwayWorld has a first look below.
David Daniels and Natalie Dessay will sing the leading roles of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra inDavid McVicar's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare, which premieres at the Met April 4. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket will lead ten performances of the popular staging, originally produced at the Glyndebourne Festival, which incorporates many innovative elements into the story of Caesar and Cleopatra's unlikely romance-including extensive choreography by Andrew George. The other principal stars of this production include Alice Coote in the trouser role of the Roman youth Sesto, Italian baritone Guido Loconsolo in his Met debut as the scheming Egyptian general Achilla, John Moore as the Roman general Curio, and three stars of McVicar's original Glyndebourne Festival production: Patricia Bardon as the Roman widow Cornelia, Sesto's stepmother; Christophe Dumaux as Tolomeo, Cleopatra's brother and co-ruler; and Moroccan countertenor Rachid Ben Abdeslam in his Met debut as the Egyptian servant Nireno. The production features set design by Robert Jones, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, and lighting design by Paule Constable. The Saturday, April 27 matinee performance of Giulio Cesare will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 1,900 movie theaters in 64 countries around the world.
In celebration of Koerner Hall's fifth anniversary, Dr. Peter Simon, President of The Royal Conservatory, and Mervon Mehta, Executive Director of Performing Arts, revealed today some of the details of the 2013-14 concert season. As always, the upcoming season will include pop, world music, and new special series. Classical and jazz concerts are being announced now, and the rest of the season of over 70 concerts will be released in June. The Conservatory is thrilled to welcome Broadway star Audra McDonald; soprano Natalie Dessay with composer and pianist Michel Legrand; cellist Mischa Maisky; violinists Midori, Isabelle Faust, and Leonidas Kavakos; pianists Yuja Wang, András Schiff, Kirill Gerstein, and Menahem Pressler; Europa Galante with Fabio Biondi; and jazz musicians Joe Sealy, Jackie Richardson, Arlene Duncan, Ranee Lee, Ramsey Lewis Quintet, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Lalah Hathaway, Nona Hendryx, John Pizzarelli, Daniela Nardi, and The Manhattan Transfer.
Joyce DiDonato stars in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, in a new production by Scottish director David McVicar, opening with a gala performance tonight, New Year's Eve.
Joyce DiDonato stars in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, in a new production by Scottish director David McVicar, opening with a gala performance on New Year's Eve.
The Met's popular Summer HD Festival returns for its fourth year on August 25, with ten free outdoor screenings of acclaimed performances from the Met's award-winning Live in HD series. The festival, which more than 40,000 people attended last year, kicks off with a screening of the Met's recent world premiere hit The Enchanted Island, a Baroque pastiche which stars David Daniels, Joyce DiDonato, and Placido Domingo.
The editors of Opera News have announced the honorees for the 2012 Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Mirella Freni and Dawn Upshaw, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. The eighth annual Opera News Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 21 at The Plaza in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.
Hei-Kyung Hong will sing the role of Violetta Valery in this evening's performance of Verdi's La Traviata, the final performance of the opera this season. Hong replaces Natalie Dessay, who is ill.
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