DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Metropolitan Opera and Fathom Events are celebrating 10 years together with the new season of the Emmy® and Peabody award-winning series, “The Met: Live in HD.” The series of 10 cinema transmissions begins October 3 with Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” 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 2015–16 Season” will feature 10 live performances, including six new productions, and a special encore presentation of “The Magic Flute” – the first-ever Met HD broadcast from 2006. Each live transmission will take place on a Saturday, with pre-recorded encore presentations on the following Wednesday evening.
In addition to the opera production, Fathom fans 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 greatest houses. The series has become a global phenomenon with more than 18 million tickets sold since its inception.
Tickets for “The Met: Live in HD 2015–16 Season” are available online at www.FathomEvents.com beginning at 10 a.m. ET on July 24, 2015, and at participating theater box offices. The event will be presented in nearly 700 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 continues to astound and entertain audiences around the world thanks to their Live in HD series,” Fathom Events Vice President of Programming Kymberli Frueh said. “This series contines to be a cornerstone of Fathom’s programming and we are thrilled to be celebrating ten years with another fantastic season.”
“The Met: Live in HD,” the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live transmissions to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world, will feature 10 live operas in the 2015-16 season, including six new productions in the Met season, and a special encore showing of “The Magic Flute”. All 10 live performances, transmitted live from the Met stage, will feature the world’s finest singers, conductors, and theatrical artists.
“The Met: Live in HD 2015-2016” series planned schedule** is as follows:
Saturday, October 3, 2015 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
IL
TROVATORE (Verdi)
Soprano
Anna Netrebko’s dramatic and vocal skills are on full display in her
next new role at the Met—Leonora, the Verdi heroine who sacrifices her
own life for the love of a gypsy troubadour. Tenor Yonghoon Lee sings
the ill-fated Manrico, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is his rival, and
mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick is the mysterious gypsy with the troubled
past. Marco Armiliato conducts Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired
production.
Wednesday, October 7 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of IL TROVATORE
(Available in select
cinemas only)
Saturday, October 17, 2015 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
OTELLO
(Verdi)
Verdi’s masterful Otello,
inspired by Shakespeare’s play and matching it in tragic intensity, is
directed by Bartlett Sher, who probes the Moor’s dramatic downfall with
an outstanding cast: tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko plays the doomed Otello;
new soprano star Sonya Yoncheva sings Desdemona, Otello’s innocent wife
and victim; and baritone Željko Lučić plays the evil Iago, who
masterminds Otello’s demise. Dynamic maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin
conducts.
Wednesday, October 21 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of OTELLO
(Available in select
cinemas only)
Saturday, October 31, 2015 – 12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00
a.m. CT/ 10:00 a.m. MT/ 9:00 a.m. PT
TANNHÄUSER
(Wagner)
James Levine conducts Wagner’s early masterpiece in
its first return to the Met stage in more than a decade. Today’s leading
Wagnerian tenor, Johan Botha, takes on the daunting title role of the
young knight caught between true love and passion. Eva-Maria Westbroek
is Elisabeth, adding another Wagner heroine to her Met repertoire after
her acclaimed Sieglinde in the “Ring” a few seasons ago. On the heels of
his recent triumph in Parsifal, Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, and
Michelle DeYoung is the love goddess, Venus.
Wednesday, November 4 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of TANNHÄUSER
(Available in select
cinemas only)
Saturday, November 21, 2015 – 12:30 p.m. ET /
11:30 a.m. CT/ 10:30 a.m. MT/ 9:30 a.m. PT
LULU
(Berg)
Acclaimed artist and director William
Kentridge (The Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to
Berg’s notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including her own.
Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands of Met Music
Director James Levine. Soprano Marlis Petersen has excited audiences
around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de-force title role, a
wild journey of love, obsession, and death. Susan Graham joins a winning
cast, including Daniel Brenna and Johan Reuter.
Wednesday, December 2 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of LULU
(Available in select cinemas
only)
Saturday December 12, 2015 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
THE
MAGIC FLUTE SPECIAL ENCORE
In celebration of the
10th Anniversary of the Live in HD series, there will be a special
encore showing of the first in-theatre event from 2006.
Saturday, January 16, 2016 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
LES
PÊCHEURS DE PERLES (Bizet)
Bizet’s gorgeous
opera of lust and longing set in the Far East returns to the Met stage
for the first time in 100 years. Soprano Diana Damrau stars as Leïla,
the beautiful Hindu priestess pursued by rival pearl divers competing
for her hand. Her suitors are tenor Matthew Polenzani and baritone
Mariusz Kwiecien, who sing the lilting duet “Au fond du temple saint,”
which opera fans know and adore. Director Penny Woolcock explores the
timeless themes of pure love, betrayal, and vengeance in a production
that vividly creates an undersea world on the stage of the Met.
Conductor Gianandrea Noseda brings his romantic flair to the lush score
from the composer of Carmen.
Wednesday, January 20 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES
(Available
in select cinemas only)
Saturday, January 30, 2016 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
TURANDOT
(Puccini)
Nina Stemme stars in the title role of the proud
princess of ancient China, whose riddles doom every suitor who seeks her
hand. TenorMarco Berti is Calàf, the brave prince who sings “Nessun
dorma” and wins her love. Franco Zeffirelli’s golden production is
conducted by Paolo Carignani.
Wednesday, February 3 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of TURANDOT
(Available in select
cinemas only)
Saturday, March 5, 2016 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
MANON
LESCAUT (Puccini)
The Met stage ignites when
soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Jonas Kaufmann join forces in
Puccini’s obsessive love story. Opolais sings the title role of the
country girl who transforms herself into a Parisian temptress, while
Kaufmann is the dashing student who desperately woos her. Director
Richard Eyre places the action in occupied France in a film noir
setting. “Desperate passion” is the phrase Puccini himself used to
describe the opera that confirmed his position as the preeminent Italian
opera composer of his day. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the
stirring score.
Wednesday, March 9 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of MANON LESCAUT
(Available in
select cinemas only)
Saturday, April 2, 2016 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
MADAMA
BUTTERFLY (Puccini)
Anthony Minghella’s
breathtaking production has thrilled audiences ever since its premiere
in 2006. One of the world’s foremost Butterflies, sopranos Kristine
Opolais stars in the title role. Tenor Roberto Alagna sings Pinkerton,
the naval officer who breaks Butterfly’s heart. Karel Mark Chichon
conducts.
Wednesday, April 6 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of MADAMA BUTTERFLY
(Available in
select cinemas only)
Saturday, April 16, 2016 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
ROBERTO
DEVEREUX (Donizetti)
Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky
takes on the extraordinary challenge of singing all three of Donizetti’s
Tudor queens in the course of a single season, a rare feat made famous
by Beverly Sills—and not attempted on a New York stage since. In this
climactic opera of the trilogy, she plays Queen Elizabeth I, forced to
sign the death warrant of the nobleman she loves, Roberto Devereux.
Tenor Matthew Polenzani is Devereux, and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča and
baritone Mariusz Kwiecien complete the principal quartet in the bel
canto masterpiece, conducted by Donizetti specialist Maurizio Benini. As
with the earlier Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda, the production is by Sir
David McVicar, who with this staging completes an enormously ambitious
directorial accomplishment.
Wednesday, April 20 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of ROBERTO DEVEREUX
(Available in
select cinemas only)
Saturday, April 30, 2016 – 12:55 p.m. ET / 11:55
a.m. CT/ 10:55 a.m. MT/ 9:55 a.m. PT
ELEKTRA
(R. Strauss)
Director Patrice Chéreau (From the
House of the Dead) didn’t live to see his great Elektra production,
previously presented in Aix and Milan, make it to the stage of the Met.
But his overpowering vision lives on with soprano Nina Stemme—unmatched
today in the heroic female roles of Strauss and Wagner—who portrays
Elektra’s primal quest for vengeance for the murder of her father,
Agamemnon. Legendary mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier is chilling as
Elektra’s fearsome mother, Klytämnestra. Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka and
bass-baritone Eric Owens are Elektra’s troubled siblings. Chéreau’s
musical collaborator Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Strauss’s mighty take on
Greek myth.
Wednesday, May 4 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore
presentation of ELEKTRA
(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
About Fathom Events
Fathom Events is the recognized leader in the alternative entertainment industry, offering a variety of one-of-a-kind entertainment events in movie theaters nationwide that include live, high-definition performances of the Metropolitan Opera, the performing arts, major sporting events, music concerts, comedy series, Broadway shows, original programming featuring entertainment’s biggest stars, socially relevant documentaries with audience Q&A and much more. Fathom Events takes audiences behind-the-scenes and offers unique extras, creating the ultimate entertainment experience. It is owned by a consortium called AC JV, LLC., comprised of AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC), Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC), the three largest movie theater circuits in the United States. In addition, Fathom Events’ live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is the largest cinema broadcast network in North America, bringing live events to 820 locations in 177 Designated Market Areas® (including all of the top 50). For more information, visit www.fathomevents.com.
About the Metropolitan Opera
Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world. For more information about the Metropolitan Opera, please visit www.metopera.org.
For artwork/photos related to “The Met: Live in HD” Fathom events, click here.