The Metropolitan Opera has reason to celebrate; $2.5 million worth of tickets were sold on Sunday, the first day of sales, through its box office, telephone call center and Web site, up from $2 million on the first day of sales last year, according to the Associated press.
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 announced plans for its free outdoor events this summer, which will take place in the Lincoln Center Plaza and in parks throughout New York City. In a brand new initiative, the Met's Summer HD Festival will feature screenings of ten productions from the Met's Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Live in HD series in Lincoln Center Plaza on consecutive nights, beginning Saturday, August 29.
The Metropolitan Opera announced plans for its free outdoor events this summer, which will take place in the Lincoln Center Plaza and in parks throughout New York City. In a brand new initiative, the Met's Summer HD Festival will feature screenings of ten productions from the Met's Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Live in HD series in Lincoln Center Plaza on consecutive nights, beginning Saturday, August 29.
Houston Grand Opera (HGO) continues its 54 th season with Verdi's haunting and tragic tale Rigoletto. Rigoletto, which was last performed at HGO in 2001, returns to the Wortham Theater Centerwith a powerful new staging of Michael Yeargan's classic production that was inspired by Italianpainter Giorgio di Chirico.
Herbie Hancock calls her 'a wonderful song stylist,' Melba Moore says that 'She's a reincarnation of Ella Fitzgerald,' and Aretha Franklin proclaims 'If you're looking for good entertainment and very hip music, be sure to check out Nnenna Freelon.' Following up on its sold-out January concert by Tony winner Christine Ebersole and its wildly popular first-time collaboration with City Arts and Lectures in December when Barbara Cook appeared in concert and in conversation with Steve Winn, Bay Area Cabaret continues its 5th season on Sunday, March 8 at 5pm with Nnenna Freelon and her jazz quartet at the Marines Memorial Club Crystal Ballroom (609 Sutter Street@ Mason). Individual tickets to this show, and to a May 17th show by multi-platinum jazz singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or City Box Office (415) 392-4400.
Patricia Racette will sing the title role of Puccini?s Madama Butterfly on Tuesday, March 3 and Saturday, March 7 matinee, replacing Cristina Gallardo-Dom?s who is ill. The March 7 performance will be transmitted live to movie theaters in 36 countries around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series.
This spring, the Metropolitan Opera will present The Audition, a documentary film about the intense challenges and pressures young opera singers face as they try to become opera stars. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, The Audition will be shown on 400 screens across the country on April 19 at 3pm EST (and in Canada on June 6 at 1pm EST) as part of the Metropolitan Opera's series of high definition presentations in movie theaters and performing arts centers. The Audition is a suspenseful competition narrative that provides a revealing behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it as an opera star. The feature-length film documents the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the storied Met stage-and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The film focuses on the final week of the competition, as judges narrow the field down from 22 semi-finalists to11 finalists while the stakes get higher and the pressure grows more intense. The documentary crew was given unprecedented access to the singers, judges, and events backstage at the Met.
Herbie Hancock calls her 'a wonderful song stylist,' Melba Moore says that 'She's a reincarnation of Ella Fitzgerald,' and Aretha Franklin proclaims 'If you're looking for good entertainment and very hip music, be sure to check out Nnenna Freelon.' Following up on its sold-out January concert by Tony winner Christine Ebersole and its wildly popular first-time collaboration with City Arts and Lectures in December when Barbara Cook appeared in concert and in conversation with Steve Winn, Bay Area Cabaret continues its 5th season on Sunday, March 8 at 5pm with Nnenna Freelon and her jazz quartet at the Marines Memorial Club Crystal Ballroom (609 Sutter Street@ Mason). Individual tickets to this show, and to a May 17th show by multi-platinum jazz singer/songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, are available at www.bayareacabaret.org or City Box Office (415) 392-4400.
Eight new productions, four of which are company premieres, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2009-10 season. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine jointly announced plans that include: the Met premieres of Rossini's Armida, Verdi's Attila, Jan?ček's From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich's The Nose; new productions of Bizet's Carmen, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Thomas's Hamlet, and Puccini's Tosca; and 18 revivals from the company's repertory. The season is the first to be entirely planned under Gelb's leadership, in collaboration with Levine (the past three seasons were planned before Gelb became General Manager in 2006-07 but included some productions, repertoire, and casting changes made by Gelb).
This spring, the Metropolitan Opera will present The Audition, a documentary film about the intense challenges and pressures young opera singers face as they try to become opera stars. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, The Audition will be shown on 400 screens across the country on April 19 at 3pm EST (and in Canada on June 6 at 1pm EST) as part of the Metropolitan Opera's series of high definition presentations in movie theaters and performing arts centers. The Audition is a suspenseful competition narrative that provides a revealing behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make it as an opera star. The feature-length film documents the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the storied Met stage-and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career. The film focuses on the final week of the competition, as judges narrow the field down from 22 semi-finalists to11 finalists while the stakes get higher and the pressure grows more intense. The documentary crew was given unprecedented access to the singers, judges, and events backstage at the Met.
Bay Area Cabaret has announced that it will follow-up last season's resoundingly successful series of 'Perfect Pairings' duet concerts with an illustrious line-up of nationally renowned Broadway and jazz divas. Bay Area Cabaret's fifth season will kick-off on Sunday, November 16 at 7pm with popular Broadway veteran Christine Andreas celebrating the great women of musical theatre at the historic Empire Ballroom of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.
Young singers from around the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico will compete for $15,000 cash prizes and the chance to perform in the Grand Finals Concert on the nation's most prestigious opera stage when the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions launches its 55th annual auditions program this fall.
The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.
The Met's acclaimed production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, directed by the late Academy Award-winning film director Anthony Minghella, returns to the stage for twelve performances beginning Friday, October 24, 2008. Reprising their portrayals in the production this season are sopranos Patricia Racette and Cristina Gallardo-Domâs in the title role, tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton, and baritone Dwayne Croft as Sharpless. Patrick Summers conducts the opera for the first time at Met.
The Metropolitan Opera's critically-acclaimed live high-definition satellite transmissions will be seen on public television in a fourteen-part series, beginning on March 30. Great Performances at the Met, presented by Thirteen/WNET New York, will feature the broadcast premieres of all eight presentations from the 2007-08 season of 'The Met: Live in HD,' as well as the six shows from the 2006-07 season. A special prime time showing of Hansel and Gretel on March 26 will precede the series, which will air every Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m./EST for 14 weeks in selected public television markets. In New York, the programs will be a part of Thirteen/WNET's new SundayArts programming showcase, beginning on Sunday, March 30 with Richard Jones's new English-language production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, is the final broadcast of the series on Sunday, June 29.
The Met's second season of 'Live in HD' continues on Saturday, March 15 at 1:30 pm/est with the new production of Britten's PETER GRIMES. Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey sings the title role, Patricia Racette is the kindhearted Ellen Orford, and Anthony Michaels-Moore is Balstrode. Donald Runnicles conducts. 'The tale of the iconoclast fisherman is the most powerful opera written since World War II,' said the Associated Press. 'Griffey's fascinating performance should not be missed.' Intermission features include live interviews hosted by star soprano Natalie Dessay, who opened the Met's current season with her acclaimed portrayal of Lucia di Lammermoor and stars in the upcoming 'Live in HD' transmission of LA FILLE DU REGIMENT. Ms. Dessay will interview Mr. Griffey, Ms. Racette, Maestro Runnicles, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, and John Doyle, the Tony Award-winning director who staged the Met's new production. The live transmission is directed for telecast by Gary Halvorson; Jay Saks is audio producer. PETER GRIMES is the fifth in a series of eight performances that will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York via satellite into more than 350 movie theaters across the country. Tickets are $22.00 U.S. adults; $20 U.S. senior; $15.00 U.S. children. More information on tickets and theaters at all participating locations is available at http://www.metoperafamily.org/hdlive.
Peter Grimes, Benjamin Britten's haunting theatrical masterpiece, returns to the Met on Thursday, February 28 at 7:30PM, in a new production directed by John Doyle
The Metropolitan Opera's 'Live in High Definition' series of live satellite transmissions into movie theaters achieved record-breaking attendance in its first weekend of the new 2007-08 season. The first transmission on Saturday, December 15-Romeo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Placido Domingo-drew a worldwide audience of 97,000.
The second season of Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition kicks off worldwide on Saturday, December 15 at 1PM (EST) with the first of the Met's eight live opera transmissions: Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Plácido Domingo.
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