International stars include Roberto Alagna, Marcelo Álvarez, Piotr Beczala, Stephanie Blythe, Olga Borodina, Katarina Dalayman, Diana Damrau, David Daniels, Natalie Dessay, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Marcello Giordani, Susan Graham, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside, Mariusz Kwiecien, Peter Mattei, Karita Mattila, René Pape, Deborah Voigt, and Eva-Maria Westbroek
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters around the world, will feature 12 productions in the 2012-13 season. The series opens on October 13 with Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, and Mariusz Kwiecien in a new production by Bartlett Sher..
“Our live transmissions continue to transform the public’s perception of opera and to excite our performers and our audiences around the world,” said Met General Manager Peter Gelb. “For our entire company, there is nothing quite like one of our adrenaline-packed Saturday matinee broadcasts.”
Donizetti’s L'Elisir d'Amore–New Production
October 13, 2012,
Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani star in Bartlett Sher's new production of one of the greatest comic gems in opera, as the fickle Adina and her besotted Nemorino. Mariusz Kwiecien is the blustery sergeant Belcore and Ambrogio Maestri is Dulcamara, the loveable quack and dispenser of the elixir. Maurizio Benini conducts.
Verdi’s Otello
October 27, 2012,
Verdi’s Shakespearean masterpiece returns to the Met with Johan Botha in the title role opposite the acclaimed Desdemona of star soprano Renée Fleming. Semyon Bychkov conducts.
Adès’s The Tempest—Met Premiere
November 10, 2012
Composer Thomas Adès conducts the Metropolitan Opera premiere of his own work, with baritone Simon Keenlyside starring as Prospero. Director Robert Lepage recreates the interior of 18th-century La Scala in this inventive staging.
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito
December 1, 2012
The virtuosic Elīna Garanča sings Sesto in Mozart’s drama set in ancient Rome. Giuseppe Filianoti is the noble Tito and Barbara Frittoli is Vitellia, in this handsome revival of one of the composer’s final masterpieces. Harry Bicket conducts.
Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera—New Production
December 8, 2012
Director David Alden’s dreamlike setting provides a compelling backdrop for this dramatic story of jealousy and vengeance. Marcelo Álvarez stars as the conflicted king; Sondra Radvanovsky is Amelia, the object of his secret passion; and Dmitri Hvorostovsky is her suspicious husband. Kathleen Kim is the page Oscar, and Stephanie Blythe sings the role of the fortune-teller Ulrica. Fabio Luisi conducts.
Verdi’s Aida
December 15, 2012,
The Met's unforgettable production of Verdi's ancient Egyptian drama stars Liudmyla Monastyrska as the enslaved Ethiopian princess caught in a love triangle with the heroic Radamès, played by Roberto Alagna, and the proud Egyptian princess Amneris, sung by Olga Borodina. Fabio Luisi conducts.
Berlioz’s Les Troyens
January 5, 2013
The Met offers a rare opportunity to witness Berlioz’s vast epic, last performed at the Met in 2003. Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft lead the starry cast, portraying characters from the Trojan War. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi marshals the large-scale musical forces.
Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda—Met Premiere
January 19, 2013
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world’s most exciting singers, takes on the virtuosic bel canto role of the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Director David McVicar turns to the second opera of Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy, which explores regal characters at fateful moments of their lives. Elza van den Heever sings Elizabeth I, and Maurizio Benini conducts.
Verdi’s Rigoletto– New Production
February 16, 2013,
Director Michael Mayer has placed his new production of Verdi’s towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960. In this production, inspired by the antics of the Rat Pack, Piotr Beczala is the womanizing Duke of Mantua, Željko Lucic is his tragic sidekick, Rigoletto, and Diana Damrau is Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda.
Wagner’s Parsifal–New Production
March 2, 2013
Jonas Kaufmann stars in the title role of the innocent who finds wisdom in François Girard's new vision for Wagner's final masterpiece. His fellow Wagnerian luminaries include Katarina Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry, Peter Mattei as the ailing Amfortas, Evgeny Nikitin as the wicked Klingsor, and René Pape as the noble knight Gurnemanz. Daniele Gatti conducts.
Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini
March 16, 2013,
Zandonai's compelling opera, inspired by an episode from Dante's Inferno, returns in the Met's ravishingly beautiful production, last seen in 1986. Dramatic soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek and tenor Marcello Giordani are the doomed lovers. Marco Armiliato condudcts.
Handel’s Giulio Cesare—New Production
April 27, 2013,
The opera that conquered London in Handel’s time comes to the Met in David McVicar’s lively production. The world’s leading countertenor, David Daniels, sings the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as an irresistibly exotic Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.
About The Met: Live in HD
The Met: Live in HD, the world’s leading provider of alternative cinema content, is now shown in more than 1,700 theaters in 54 countries, making the Met the only arts institution with an ongoing global art series of this scale. The Met was the first arts company to experiment as an alternative content provider, beginning on a modest scale in 2006. Since then, its program has grown every season, with more than 9.6 million tickets sold to date. Close to 3 million tickets are expected to be sold in the current season alone.
Met opera stars serve as hosts for the HD series, conducting live interviews with cast, crew, and production teams, and introducing the popular behind-the-scenes features; altogether the worldwide HD audience is given an unprecedented look at what goes into the staging of an opera at one of the world’s great houses.
