2008-09 Met Opera - Live in HD! Live simulcasts from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House to the Walter Reade Theater, specially equipped with high definition screens and surround sound. A special presentation by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera.
Opening Night Gala Starring Renée Fleming
Monday, September 22, 2008 at 6:30pm
Running time: 3 hours, 37 minutes (two intermissions) For the season-opening gala starring Renée Fleming, Music Director James Levine and Marco Armiliato conduct fully staged performances of the second act of Verdi’s La Traviata, the third act of Massenet’s Manon, and the final scene from Richard Strauss’s Capriccio. Tenor Ramón Vargas and baritones Thomas Hampson and Dwayne Croft join the soprano.
Conductors: James Levine and Marco Armiliato; Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, Thomas Hampson, Dwayne Croft
Salome - Strauss
Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 1pm
Running time: 1 hours, 37 minutes (no intermission) Karita Mattila caused a sensation when she sang Salome at the Met for the first time in 2004. She reprises her stunning interpretation of the part, including her unforgettable Dance of the Seven Veils.
Conductor: Patrick Summers*; Production: Jürgen Flimm; Karita Mattila, Ildikó Komlósi, Juha Uusitalo, Kim Begley, Joseph Kaiser (*replaces Mikko Franck who is ill)
Doctor Atomic (Met Premiere) - Adams
Saturday, November 8, 2008 at 1pm
Running time: 3 hours, 21 minutes (one intermission) John Adams’s contemporary masterpiece explores a momentous episode of modern history: the creation of the atomic bomb. Director Penny Woolcock makes her Met debut with this gripping story that changed the course of history. Baritone Gerald Finley plays J. Robert Oppenheimer, the title character.
Conductor: Alan Gilbert; Production: Penny Woolcock; Sasha Cooke, Meredith Arwady, Gerald Finley, Eric Owens, Richard Paul Fink
La Damnation de Faust (New Production) - Berlioz
Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 1pm
Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (two intermissions) Robert Lepage, one of theater’s most imaginative directors, applies his artistry to Berlioz’s contemplation of good and evil. Using projections, Lepage has created a vision for La Damnation de Faust that seamlessly marries art and technology. Marcello Giordani stars in the title role opposite Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Méphistophélès. James Levine conducts this rarely staged masterwork.
Conductor: James Levine; Production: Robert Lepage; Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, John Relyea
Thaïs (New Production) – Massenet
Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 12pm (Noon)
Running time: 3 hours, 21 minutes (two intermissions) Renée Fleming stars as the Egyptian courtesan in search of spiritual sustenance. Thomas Hampson is the monk who falls from grace. Massenet’s sensual opera is presented in a new production by John Cox.
Conductor: Jesús López-Cobos; Production: John Cox; Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, Michael Schade
La Rondine (New Production) – Puccini
Saturday, January 10, 2009 at 1pm
Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission) Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna provide the star power to deliver this ravishing romance from the world’s most popular opera composer. Gheorghiu plays the kept woman who gambles on true love, and Alagna is the man who makes her question the cost of her glittering existence. Nicolas Joël directs the new production of this gorgeously melodic look at love.
Conductor: Marco Armiliato; Production: Nicolas Joël; Angela Gheorghiu, Lisette Oropesa, Roberto Alagna, Marius Brenciu, Samuel Ramey
Orfeo ed Euridice – Gluck
Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 1pm
Running time: 1 hours, 31 minutes (no intermission) Mark Morris’s acclaimed production returns. This complete vision for Gluck, with choreography by Morris and costumes by Isaac Mizrahi, features the artistry of Stephanie Blythe in the male title role. The alluring Danielle de Niese is Orfeo’s adored wife, Euridice, who inspires the hero to face the underworld for her sake. Music Director James Levine conducts.
Conductor: James Levine; Production: Mark Morris; Stephanie Blythe, Danielle de Niese
Lucia di Lammermoor – Donizetti
Saturday, February 7, 2009 at 1pm
Running time: 3 hours, 20 minutes (two intermission) Anna Netrebko sings the title role of Donizetti’s fragile heroine for the first time at the Met, with tenor Rolando Villazón in the part of her lover, Edgardo. Baritone Mariusz Kwiecien is her tyrannical brother. Mary Zimmerman’s hit production is staged as a Victorian ghost story.
Conductor: Marco Armiliato; Production: Mary Zimmerman; Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Mariusz Kwiecien, Ildar Abdrazakov
Madama Butterfly – Puccini
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 7pm (re-broadcast of Sat March 7 at 1pm performance)
Running time: 3 hours, 20 minutes (two intermission) Cristina Gallardo-Domâs returns to the title role of Anthony Minghella’s stunning production, a new classic of the Met repertory, opposite Marcello Giordani.
Conductor: Patrick Summers; Production: Anthony Minghella; Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, Marcello Giordani
La Sonnambula (New Production) – Bellini
Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 1pm
Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes (one intermission) Mary Zimmerman, who directed Natalie Dessay in last season’s hit production of Lucia di Lammermoor, underlines La Sonnambula’s dual elements of sleep and wakefulness in an intriguing staging set in the present. Bellini’s hauntingly lyrical score soars as performed by Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, back from their sensational run together in La Fille du Régiment.
Conductor: Evelino Pidò; Production: Mary Zimmerman; Natalie Dessay, Juan Diego Flórez, Michele Pertusi
La Cenerentola – Rossini
Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 12:30pm
Running time: 3 hours (one intermission) Hot on the heels of her triumphant Met debut as Rosina in last season’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Elīna Garanča portrays another Rossini charmer in this bel canto Cinderella story. Lawrence Brownlee is her Prince Charming. Veteran baritone Alessandro Corbelli demonstrates his impeccable comic timing to match the gravitas of Met favorite John Relyea.
Conductor: Maurizio Benini; Production: Cesare Lievi; Elīna Garanča, Lawrence Brownlee, Simone Alberghini, Alessandro Corbelli, John Relyea
Please note: Programs and casting subject to change. Running times are approximate.
