The Metropolitan Opera's critically-acclaimed live high-definition satellite transmissions will be seen on public television in a fourteen-part series, beginning on March 30. Great Performances at the Met, presented by Thirteen/WNET New York, will feature the broadcast premieres of all eight presentations from the 2007-08 season of "The Met: Live in HD," as well as the six shows from the 2006-07 season. A special prime time showing of Hansel and Gretel on March 26 will precede the series, which will air every Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m./EST for 14 weeks in selected public television markets. In New York, the programs will be a part of Thirteen/WNET's new SundayArts programming showcase, beginning on Sunday, March 30 with Richard Jones's new English-language production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, is the final broadcast of the series on Sunday, June 29.
Broadcast premieres on Great Performances at the Met are scheduled as follows (please check local PBS listings):March 26 (prime time)/March 30: Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held in Richard Jones's new English-language production. Vladimir Jurowski conducts. Original live telecast directed by Barbara Willis Sweete. April 6: Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko, Roberto Alagna, Isabel Leonard, and Nathan Gunn. Plácido Domingo conducts. Original live telecast directed by Gary Halvorson.April 13: Verdi's Macbeth starring Maria Guleghina, Željko Lučić, Dimitri Pittas, and John Relyea, in Adrian Noble's new production. Met Music Director James Levine conducts. Live telecast directed by Gary Halvorson. April 27: Puccini's Manon Lescaut, starring Karita Mattila, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft. James Levine conducts. Original live telecast directed by Brian Large.May 18: Britten's Peter Grimes, starring Anthony Dean Griffey, Patricia Racette, and Anthony Michaels-Moore in John Doyle's new production. Donald Runnicles conducts. Original live telecast directed by Gary Halvorson.Videos