New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ WNET) Joyce DiDonato sings the title role in Rossini's Cinderella story, La Cenerentola, with bel canto masterJuan
Diego Flórez as her dashing prince. Met Principal Conductor
Fabio Luisi leads a cast that also includes Pietro Spagnoli in his Met debut as the servant Dandini, Alessandro Corbelli as Cenerentola's stepfather Don Magnifico, and Luca Pisaroni as Don Ramiro's tutor, Alidoro, on Great Performances at the Met Sunday,
September 7 at 12 p.m. on PBS.
Joyce DiDonato has sung Angelina at major opera houses all over the world, including La Scala, the Bavarian
State Opera,
Houston Grand Opera, Paris's Théâtre du Châtelet, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Angelina is her eighth role at the Met. Juan
Diego Flórez is one of the world's foremost Rossini tenors, currently counting 17 of the composer's tenor roles in his repertory. He made his Met debut in 2002 as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the same year he sang his first company performances of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola.
The New York Times found DiDonato to be "… a dazzling, plucky and endearingly poignant Cinderella …She sang with impish glee, dispatching virtuosic runs and turns, leaping from her chesty low register to gleaming high notes." The Financial Times observed that "Luisi, the Met's principal conductor, managed to enforce verve and style, even elegance in the pit."
Soprano Deborah Voigt hosts the broadcast.
La Cenerentola was originally seen live in movie theaters on May 10 as part of the groundbreaking The Met: Live in HD series, which transmits live performances to more than 2,000 movie theaters and performing arts centers in 66 countries around the world. The transmission reached a record-breaking 15 million viewers.
Great Performances at the Met is a presentation of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, one of America's most prolific and respected public media providers.
Throughout its 40 year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America's most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming. Now in its fifth decade, the series has been the home to the greatest artists in the areas of drama, dance, musical theater, classical and popular music, providing many with their very first television exposure.
Corporate support for Great Performances at the Met is provided by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder®. Major funding for the Met Opera presentation is provided by Mercedes T. Bass Charitable Corporation, with additional funding by the
National Endowment for the Arts. This Great Performances presentation is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, The
Agnes Varis Trust, and public television viewers. For the Met,
Barbara Willis Sweete directs the telecast. Jay
David Saks is
Music Producer, Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are Supervising Producers, and Louisa Briccetti and
Victoria Warivonchik are Producers.
Peter Gelb is Executive Producer. For Great Performances, Bill O'Donnell is Series Producer;
David Horn is Executive Producer.
Visit Great Performances online at www.pbs.org/gperf for additional information on this and other Great Performances programs.
