The traffic in midtown Manhattan was its usual horror at lunchtime last Friday--and Anna Netrebko was stuck in it. She was on the way to Cipriani 42nd Street, across from Grand Central Station, where the Metropolitan Opera Guild was celebrating the soprano at its 84th Annual Luncheon. Despite her delayed arrival, the soprano made some time to talk to me about her voice, her roles and what lies ahead--and, by the way, to be absolutely charming and laugh prodigiously in between her serious discussions about her voice and career.
When the Met's literary advisor asked Nicholas Wright what he thought about doing the libretto for MARNIE, he said yes because he was really interested in working with composer Nico Muhly and Michael Mayer. He was somewhat reserved, however, about whether it was a good opera subject. That was understandable, of course, when he admitted, laughing, a case of mistaken identity.
Patrons and Subscribers arriving for a performance at the Metropolitan Opera will find it easier and faster to make their way inside when a new entrance opens in the late fall of 2018, a significant architectural alteration designed to meet modern audience needs.
The Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts will begin its 13th season at the WYO on October 13, with the Met's grand production of Verdi's Aida, starring one of the world's most acclaimed sopranos, Anna Netrebko.
For the first time in the history of the Met, Sunday matinees will become part of the weekly performance schedule, it was announced today as part of the recent agreement with the Met's musicians and chorus that was ratified today.
Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents The Metropolitan Opera: Marnie with Peter Gelb, Nico Muhly, Michael Mayer, Isabel Leonard and Christopher Maltman on Monday, October 1, 2018 at 7:30pm.
Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents The Metropolitan Opera: Marnie with Peter Gelb, Nico Muhly, Michael Mayer, Isabel Leonard and Christopher Maltman on Monday, October 1, 2018 at 7:30pm.
BroadwayWorld has a first look at Great Performances at the Met: Cendrillon, starring Joyce DiDonato as the titular heroine and Alice Coote as Prince Charming alongside Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother and Stephanie Blythe as Madame de la Haltiere. The season 12 finale airs this Sunday, September 9 at 12:00 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).
Season 12 of Great Performances at the Met concludes Sunday, September 9 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) with Cendrillon, Massenet's operatic take on the classic fairy tale Cinderella, starring Joyce DiDonato as the titular heroine and Alice Coote as Prince Charming, alongside Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother andStephanie Blythe as Madame de la Haltière.
Works & Process at the Guggenheim is pleased to announce its fall 2018 season, which includes new dance and music commissions, and a gala featuring a revival performance of a Works & Process Rotunda Project in the Guggenheim's iconic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed space. Since 1984 the performing-arts series has championed new works and offered audiences unprecedented access to leading choreographers, composers, dancers, musicians, and playwrights, among others. Programs explore the creative process through stimulating discussions with artists and riveting performance highlights. Each 70-minute program takes place in the museum's Peter B. Lewis Theater unless otherwise noted. Additional information is available at worksandprocess.org.
Season 12 of Great Performances at the Met continues Sunday, July 8 on PBS (check local listings) with a rare Met performance of Rossini's masterpiece Semiramide, starring Angela Meade as the titular Queen of Babylon and Elizabeth DeShong as the warrior Arsace. Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov and Ryan Speedo Greencomplete the all-star bel canto cast.
Great Performances: The Opera House, the new documentary by multiple Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Susan Froemke (Grey Gardens; Lalee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton) surveys a remarkable period of the Metropolitan Opera's rich history and a time of great change for New York City. Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, stills and recent interviews, the film chronicles the creation of the Met's storied Lincoln Center home of the last 50 years, set against a backdrop of the artists, architects and politicians who shaped the cultural life of New York City in the 1950s and 60s. Among the notable figures featured in the film are famed soprano Leontyne Price, who opened the Met's present Opera House in 1966 with a starring role in Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra; Rudolf Bing, the Met's imperious general manager who engineered the move from the old house to the new one; Robert Moses, the unstoppable city planner who bulldozed an entire neighborhood to make room for Lincoln Center; and Wallace Harrison, whose quest for architectural glory was never fully realized.
Great Performances: The Opera House, the new documentary by multiple Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Susan Froemke (Grey Gardens; Lalee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton) surveys a remarkable period of the Metropolitan Opera's rich history and a time of great change for New York City. Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, stills and recent interviews, the film chronicles the creation of the Met's storied Lincoln Center home of the last 50 years, set against a backdrop of the artists, architects and politicians who shaped the cultural life of New York City in the 1950s and 60s. Amongst the notable figures featured in the film are famed soprano Leontyne Price, who opened the Met's present Opera House in 1966 with a starring role in Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra; Rudolf Bing, the Met's imperious general manager who engineered the move from the old house to the new one; Robert Moses, the unstoppable city planner who bulldozed an entire neighborhood to make room for Lincoln Center; and Wallace Harrison, whose quest for architectural glory was never fully realized.
Season 12 of Great Performances at the Met continues Sunday, May 20 on PBS (check local listings) with one of the world's most popular operas, Puccini's La Bohème, starring Sonya Yoncheva as the fragile Mimì and Michael Fabiano as the poet Rodolfo.
Soprano Nadine Sierra has been named the winner of the 13th annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is given to extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met. The award, given in honor of Beverly Sills, was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from the late Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met board. In 2009 Sierra became the youngest ever winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has gone on to make her mark at the Met with memorable performances in Verdi's Rigoletto, and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Idomeneo and Don Giovanni. In the Met's 2018-19 season, Sierra will reprise the role of Gilda in Rigoletto.
Great Performances: The Opera House, the new documentary by multiple Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Susan Froemke (Grey Gardens; Lalee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton) surveys a remarkable period of the Metropolitan Opera's rich history and a time of great change for New York City. Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, stills and recent interviews, the film chronicles the creation of the Met's storied Lincoln Center home of the last 50 years, set against a backdrop of the artists, architects and politicians who shaped the cultural life of New York City in the 1950s and 60s. Among the notable figures featured in the film are famed soprano Leontyne Price, who opened the Met's present Opera House in 1966 with a starring role in Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra; Rudolf Bing, the Met's imperious general manager who engineered the move from the old house to the new one; Robert Moses, the unstoppable city planner who bulldozed an entire neighborhood to make room for Lincoln Center; and Wallace Harrison, whose quest for architectural glory was never fully realized.
Accelerating his arrival as Music Director by two seasons, Yannick Nezet-Seguin will take up the post in time for the start of the Metropolitan Opera's 2018-19 season, it was announced today. By freeing up some guest conducting weeks in his busy calendar in both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Nezet-Seguin will now be able to conduct three operas and two Met Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall in each of those seasons, instead of the two operas per season originally scheduled. With the assumption of the Music Director title in the fall of 2018, Nezet-Seguin will also be taking on the full artistic responsibilities for the orchestra, chorus, and music staff. His full-time collaboration with Met General Manager Peter Gelb on all other artistic matters will also begin at that time. As previously announced, Nezet-Seguin will begin conducting a minimum of five operas per season starting with the 2020-21 season.
The Metropolitan Opera presents BambinO, a pioneering opera for toddlers aged between 6 and 18 months old, developed by Scottish Opera, Improbable theatre company and Manchester International Festival, where the production premiered last summer. BambinO is an operatic experience for infants that will stimulate them with new sounds and images in a 40 minute immersive performance.
Season 12 of Great Performances at the Met continues on PBS on Sunday, March 25, at 12:00pm with the American premiere of Thomas Adès's The Exterminating Angel, a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can't escape. The Exterminating Angel was inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name, and stars John Tomlinson and Alice Coote. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is the host.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, will begin its 13th season on October 6, with the Met's grand production of Verdi's Aida, starring one of the world's most acclaimed sopranos, Anna Netrebko.
