‘The Met: Live In HD’ Celebrates 10 Years With 2015-16 Season, Opening With Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’ In Select U.S. Cinemas on October 3
The Metropolitan Opera and Fathom Events Present the 10th Season of the Award-Winning Series in Select Cinemas Nationwide with 10 Live Performances, Including Six New Productions, and a Special Encore
Tickets Go on Sale July 24
DENVER – July 23, 2015 – 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.
