New York, NY 10023
USA
2015 Summer HD Festival:
Free Ten Day Festival Beginning August 29 at Lincoln Center Plaza
August 29 Through September 7
The Festival Opens With a Special Screening of
West Side Story, Co-Presented With
Film Society of Lincoln Center, on Friday, August 28
Friday, August 28, 8:00 PM:
Special Screening of WEST SIDE STORY
Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’s classic movie musical stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as Maria and Tony, the star-crossed lovers whose teenage romance ends in tragedy. Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, both in Oscar-winning performances, complete the principal cast. Leonard Bernstein’s score includes such unforgettable songs as “Maria,” Tonight,” “America,” and “Somewhere.”
A co-presentation of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Saturday, August 29, 7:45 PM: CARMEN
Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna ignite the screen in the most popular Live in HD presentation since the series’ inception. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Bizet’s gripping melodrama, which also stars Barbara Frittoli and Teddy Tahu Rhodes. (Original transmission: January 16, 2010).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
Sunday, August 30, 8:00 PM: MACBETH
Anna Netrebko triumphs as the fearsome Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s magnificent Shakespeare adaptation, opposite Željko Lučić in the title role. Fabio Luisi conducts a cast that also includes Joseph Calleja as Macduff and René Pape as Banquo. (Original transmission: October 11, 2014).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Monday, August 31, 7:45 PM: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN
Star tenor Vittorio Grigolo is the poet-adventurer whose string of failed romances are the subject of Offenbach’s sparkling operetta. The women he loves and loses are portrayed by Erin Morley as the mechanical doll Olympia, Hibla Gerzmava as the consumptive artist Antonia and the self-absorbed diva Stella, and Christine Rice as the courtesan Giulietta; Kate Lindsey sings Hoffmann’s faithful friend Nicklausse and Thomas Hampson sings the Four Villains. Yves Abel conducts. (Original transmission: January 31, 2015).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Tuesday, September 1, 7:30 PM: IOLANTA/BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE
Valery Gergiev conducts and Mariusz Treliński directs a provocative and critically acclaimed double bill, beginning with the company premiere of Tchaikovsky’s fairy tale Iolanta. Anna Netrebko stars as the title character, a blind princess, with Piotr Beczala as the heroic Vaudémont and Aleksei Markov as Robert. Bluebeard’s Castle stars Mikhail Petrenko as the forbidding title character and Nadja Michael as Judith, his unlucky new bride. (Original transmission: February 14, 2015).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 55 minutes
Wednesday, September 2, 7:30 PM: COSÌ FAN TUTTE
James Levine conducts Mozart’s brilliant comedy of love, trust, and disguise, featuring a cast of young Met stars, including Susanna Phillips and Isabel Leonard as the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella; Danielle de Niese as their clever maid, Despina; Matthew Polenzani and Rodion Pogossov as the sisters’ suitors, Ferrando and Guglielmo; and Maurizio Muraro as the cynical Don Alfonso. (Original transmission: April 26, 2014).
Approximate running time: 3 hours
Thursday, September 3, 7:45 PM: IL TRITTICO
Puccini’s classic triple bill is seen in Jack O’Brien’s spectacular production, conducted by James Levine. Il Tabarro stars Maria Guleghina as Giorgetta, Salvatore Licitra as Luigi, and Juan Pons as Michele. Barbara Frittoli sings the title role in Suor Angelica, opposite Stephanie Blythe as La Principessa and Heidi Grant Murphy as Genovieffa. Gianni Schicchi features Alessandro Corbelli as the title character, Olga Mykytenko as Lauretta, and Massimo Giordano as Rinuccio. (Original transmission: April 28, 2007).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Friday, September 4, 7:45 PM: ROMÉO ET JULIETTE
Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna star as the title lovers in Gounod’s gorgeous Shakespeare adaptation, conducted by Plácido Domingo and also starring Isabel Leonard as Stephano, Nathan Gunn as Mercutio, and Robert Lloyd as Friar Laurence. (Original transmission: December 15, 2007).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Saturday, September 5, 8:00 PM: LA TRAVIATA
Natalie Dessay stars as the consumptive courtesan Violetta, perhaps opera’s most beloved heroine, in Willy Decker’s visionary production of Verdi’s tragedy. The cast, conducted by Fabio Luisi, also features Matthew Polenzani as Violetta’s lover, Alfredo, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as his father, Giorgio Germont. (Original transmission: April 14, 2012).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Sunday, September 6, 7:45 PM: DON GIOVANNI
Mariusz Kwiecien sings the title role of Mozart’s legendary lothario, whose relentless womanizing leads to a fiery demise. Fabio Luisi conducts Michael Grandage’s production, which also stars Marina Rebeka as Donna Anna, Barbara Frittoli as Donna Elvira, Mojca Erdmann as Zerlina, Ramón Vargas as Don Ottavio, Luca Pisaroni as Leporello, Joshua Bloom as Masetto, and Štefan Kocán as the Commendatore. (Original transmission: October 29, 2011).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Monday, September 7, 8:00 PM: AIDA
Verdi’s epic of ancient Egypt shows the composer at his most sweeping, especially in the Met’s grand-scale staging. Liudmyla Monastyrska stars as the title character, an Ethiopian slave who is secretly a princess, opposite Roberto Alagna as the Egyptian war hero Radamès, Olga Borodina as the spiteful princess Amneris, Štefan Kocán as the high priest Ramfis, and Miklós Sebestyén as the King of Egypt. Fabio Luisi conducts. (Original transmission: December 15, 2012).
Approximate running time: 2 hours. 30 minutes
The Met: Live in HD is produced in association with WNET and PBS.
