Greenwood Village, CO. (Top40 Charts/ Fathom Events) The Metropolitan Opera and Fathom Events present the ninth season of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning "The Met: Live in HD" series in cinemas beginning Oct. 11 with
Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth" at 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT. "The Met: Live in HD" 2014-2015 series will feature 10 live performances, including five new productions. Each broadcast will take place on a Saturday, with pre-recorded encore presentations on the following Wednesday evening. Fathom fans will also get to go behind the scenes with the Met's stars. Singers serve as hosts for the HD series, conducting live interviews with cast and crew members as well as production teams. They introduce the popular behind-the-scenes features during intermission, giving the audience an unprecedented look at what goes into staging an opera at one of the world's great houses. The series has become a global phenomenon with more than 15 million tickets sold since its inception.
"This series is nothing short of amazing, and we're proud to make the opera experience accessible and affordable to fans of all ages."
Tickets for "The Met: Live in HD 2014-2015" are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. The event will be presented in more than 650 select movie theaters around the country through Fathom's
Digital Broadcast Network. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).
"The Metropolitan Opera will continue to astound audiences in its ninth season of 'The Met: Live in HD' series," Fathom Events' CEO John Rubey said. "This series is nothing short of amazing, and we're proud to make the opera experience accessible and affordable to fans of all ages."
"The Met: Live in HD," the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 67 countries around the world, will feature 10 operas in the 2014-15 season, including five new productions in the Met season. All 10 performances, transmitted live from the Met stage, will feature the world's finest singers, conductors, and theatrical artists.
"The Met: Live in HD 2014-2015" series planned schedule** is as follows:
Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
MACBETH (Verdi)
Star soprano Anna Netrebko delivers her searing portrayal of Lady Macbeth, the mad and murderous mate of Željko Lučić's doomed Macbeth, for the first time at the Met. Adrian Noble's chilling production of Verdi's adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy also stars Joseph Calleja as Macduff and René Pape as Banquo with
Fabio Luisi conducting.
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of MACBETH
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (Mozart)
Music Director James Levine conducts a spirited new production of Mozart's masterpiece, directed by Richard Eyre, who sets the action of this classic domestic comedy during the gilded age of the late 1920s. Dashing bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov leads the cast in the title role of the clever servant, opposite Marlis Petersen as his bride, Susanna, with
Peter Mattei as the philandering Count they work for,
Amanda Majeski as the long-suffering Countess, and
Isabel Leonard as the libidinous pageboy, Cherubino.
Wednesday, Oct. 22 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Nov. 1, 2014 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
CARMEN (Bizet)
Richard Eyre's mesmerizing production of Bizet's steamy melodrama returns with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili singing her signature role of the ill-fated gypsy temptress. Aleksandrs Antonenko plays her desperate lover, the soldier Don José, and Ildar Abdrazakov is the swaggering bullfighter, Escamillo, who comes between them.
Pablo Heras-Casado conducts the irresistible score.
Wednesday, Nov. 5 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of CARMEN
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Rossini)
The Met's effervescent production of Rossini's classic comedy - featuring some of opera's most instantly recognizable melodies- stars
Isabel Leonard as the feisty Rosina, Lawrence Brownlee as her conspiring flame, and
Christopher Maltman as the endlessly resourceful and charming barber, himself. Michele Mariotti conducts the vivid and tuneful score.
Wednesday, Nov. 26 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014 - 12:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. CT/ 10:00 a.m. MT/ 9:00 a.m. PT
DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG (Wagner)
James Levine conducts Wagner's epic comedy—back at the Met for the first time in eight years—about a group of Renaissance "master singers" whose song contest unites a city.
Johan Reuter,
Johan Botha, and Annette Dasch lead the superb international cast in this charming and magisterial celebration of the power of music and art.
Wednesday, Dec. 17 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
THE MERRY WIDOW (Lehár)
The great Renée Fleming stars as the beguiling woman who captivates all Paris in Lehár's enchanting operetta, seen in a new staging by Broadway virtuoso director and choreographer Susan Stroman (The Producers, Oklahoma!, Contact). Stroman and her team of set designer Julian Crouch (Satyagraha, The Enchanted Island) and costume designer
William Ivey Long (Cinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray) have created an art-nouveau setting that climaxes with singing and dancing grisettes at the legendary Maxim's. Nathan Gunn co-stars as Danilo and Kelli O'Hara is Valencienne. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.
Wednesday, Jan. 21 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of THE MERRY WIDOW
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN (Offenbach)
The magnetic tenor
Vittorio Grigolo takes on the title role of the tortured poet and unwitting adventurer in the Met's kaleidoscopic production of Offenbach's energetic, operatic masterpiece. Erin Morley as Olympia, Hibla Gerzmava as
Antonia and Stella, and Christine Rice as
Giulietta each sing an idealized embodiment of some aspect of Hoffmann's desire.
Thomas Hampson portrays the shadowy Four Villains, and Yves Abel conducts the sparkling score.
Wednesday, Feb. 4 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015 - 12:30 p.m. ET/ 11:30 a.m. CT/ 10:30 a.m. MT/ 9:30 a.m. PT
IOLANTA/ BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE (Tchaikovsky/ Bartók)
On the heels of her triumphant Met performances in Eugene Onegin, soprano Anna Netrebko takes on another Tchaikovsky heroine in the first opera of this intriguing double bill, consisting of an enchanting fairy tale (Iolanta) followed by an erotic psychological thriller (Duke Bluebeard's Castle). Netrebko stars as the beautiful blind girl who experiences love for the first time in Iolanta, while Nadja Michael is the unwitting victim of the diabolical Bluebeard, played by Mikhail Petrenko. Both operas are directed by Mariusz Treliński, who was inspired by classic noir films of the 1940s. Iolanta also stars Piotr Beczala, and Valery Gergiev conducts both operas.
Wednesday, Feb. 18 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of IOLANTA/ BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, March 14, 2015 - 12:55 p.m. ET/ 11:55 a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
LA DONNA DEL LAGO (Rossini)
Bel canto superstars Joyce DiDonato and Juan
Diego Flórez join forces for this Rossini showcase of vocal virtuosity, set in the medieval Scottish highlands and based on a beloved novel by Sir Walter Scott. DiDonato is the "lady of the lake" of the title, and Flórez is the king who relentlessly pursues her, their vocal fireworks embellishing the romantic plot in this Met premiere production conducted by Michele Mariotti.
Wednesday, March 18 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LA DONNA DEL LAGO
(Available in select cinemas only)
Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 12:30 p.m. ET/ 11:30 a.m. CT/ 10:30 a.m. MT/ 9:30 a.m. PT
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI (Mascagni / Leoncavallo)
Opera's most enduring tragic double bill returns in an evocative new production from Sir
David McVicar, who sets the action across two time periods but in the same Sicilian village. Marcelo Álvarez rises to the challenge of playing the dual tenor roles of Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio in Pagliacci. Rae Smith (War Horse) has designed the moodily atmospheric 1900 village square setting of Cavalleria, which transforms to a 1948 truck stop for the doomed vaudeville troupe of Pagliacci. Eva-Maria Westbroek (Cavalleria Rusticana) and
Patricia Racette (Pagliacci) sing the unlucky heroines, and Met Principal Conductor
Fabio Luisi is on the podium.
Wednesday, April 29 - 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI
(Available in select cinemas only)
**Programs and casting subject to change. For more details on the operas, please visit the Met's website at www.metopera.org/hdlive.
