To meet increasing global demand, the Metropolitan Opera will expand its groundbreaking series, The Met: Live in HD, to feature 11 live transmissions during the 2008-09 season. Now seen in 600 movie theaters in 17 countries as well as aboard cruise ships across the globe, The Met: Live in HD will reach up to 800 venues worldwide next season. New countries to join the international distribution network include Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and Ireland; new venues will be added in North America and overseas.
The 2008-09 season of The Met: Live in HD will feature 11 transmissions (up from 8 in the current season), beginning with the Met’s Opening Night Gala celebration, starring soprano Renee Fleming, on September 22 (North America only). The new series will also feature live transmissions of five new productions, including one Met premiere. The Opening Night transmission will be seen in North America only; the remaining ten high-definition productions will be shown worldwide on Saturdays through May 9, 2009.
By the end of the 8-transmission series this season, the Met will have reached a total worldwide audience of close to 900,000. Countries that recently joined the network include Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Poland, as well as the territory of Puerto Rico.
The Met: Live in HD is made possible by a generous grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation. Here is the complete schedule for the new season:
North America Only! Monday, September 22, 2008 OPENING NIGHT GALA (6:30 p.m. EDT / 5:30 p.m. CDT / tape delayed to 8:00 p.m. MDT / 7:00 p.m. PDT) – Opening Night Gala starring Renee Fleming in fully staged performances of scenes from three different operas: Verdi’s La Traviata (Act II), Massenet’s Manon (Act III), and the final scene from Richard Strauss’s Capriccio. Tenor Ramon Vargas and baritones Thomas Hampson and Dwayne Croft co-star. Met Music Director James Levine and Marco Armiliato conduct.
Saturday, October 11, 2008 SALOME (1:00 p.m. EDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT/ 17:00 p.m. UTC / 18:00 p.m. BST / 19:00 CEST) – Soprano Karita Mattila reprises her acclaimed interpretation of the title character of Strauss’s Salome, with baritone Juha Uusitalo as Jochanaan. Mikko Franck conducts.
Saturday, November 8, 2008 DOCTOR ATOMIC (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC / 19:00 p.m. CET) – Penny Woolcock directs the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic, starring Gerald Finley as Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Sasha Cooke as his wife, Kitty, with Eric Owens and Richard Paul Fink. Alan Gilbert conducts. NEW PRODUCTION
Saturday, November 22, 2008 LA DAMNATION DE FAUST (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Robert Lepage directs Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, starring Marcello Giordani in the title role, with Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Mephistopheles. James Levine conducts. (A new production reconceived in collaboration with Ex Machina for the Met, based on a co-production of the Saito Kinen Festival and Opera National de Paris.) NEW PRODUCTION
Saturday, December 20, 2008 THAIS (12:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. CST / 10:00 a.m. MST / 9:00 a.m. PST/ 17:00 p.m. UTC; 18:00 p.m. CET) – Renee Fleming stars in the title role of Massenet’s Thais, with Thomas Hampson as the monk Athanael in John Cox’s production, which originated at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducts. NEW PRODUCTION
Saturday, January 10, 2009 LA RONDINE (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Nicolas Joel directs Puccini’s La Rondine, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna in a production originally mounted by the Theatre du Capitole, Toulouse, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Marco Armiliato conducts. (Co-production with the Theatre du Capitole, Toulouse, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.) NEW PRODUCTION
Saturday, January 24, 2009 ORFEO ED EURIDICE (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Stephanie Blythe and Danielle de Niese star in Mark Morris’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. James Levine conducts.
Saturday, February 7, 2009 LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Dynamic opera duo Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon star in Mary Zimmerman’s acclaimed production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Marco Armiliato conducts.
Saturday, March 7, 2009 MADAMA BUTTERFLY (1:00 p.m. EST / 12:00 p.m. CST / 11:00 a.m. MST / 10:00 a.m. PST/ 18:00 p.m. UTC; 19:00 p.m. CET) – Cristina Gallardo-Domas sings the title role of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in Anthony Minghella’s stunning production. Marcello Giordani stars as Pinkerton. Patrick Summers conducts.
Saturday, March 21, 2009 LA SONNAMBULA (1:00 p.m. EDT / 12:00 p.m. CDT / 11:00 a.m. MDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT/ 17:00 p.m. UTC; 18:00 p.m. CET) – Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez star in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, conducted by Evelino Pido. NEW PRODUCTION
Saturday, May 9, 2009 LA CENERENTOLA (12:30 p.m. EDT / 11:30 p.m. CDT / 10:30 a.m. MDT / 9:30 a.m. PDT/ 16:30 p.m. UTC; 17:30 BST; 18:30 p.m. CEST) – Elina Garanca stars in Rossini’s bel canto Cinderella story, La Cenerentola. Lawrence Brownlee stars as her Prince Charming, Don Ramiro. Maurizio Benini conducts. -- www.metoperafamily.org
