The Met: Live in HD Returns for its Sixth Season of Live Opera Transmissions

The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters around the world, returns for a sixth season Saturday, October 15 with the Met premiere production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, featuring Anna Netrebko in the title role.

The opera, directed by David McVicar and conducted by Marco Armiliato, is based on the final, tragic days of Anne Boleyn and has been a dramatic and vocal showcase for some of the greatest sopranos in operatic history. In addition to Ms. Netrebko, the 2011-12 Live in HD season features many of the opera world's most prominent stars, including Stephanie Blythe, David Daniels, Natalie Dessay, Joyce DiDonato, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann, Mariusz Kwiecien, René Pape, Marina Poplavskaya, Bryn Terfel and Deborah Voigt. Met Music Director James Levine conducts the HD performances of Wagner's Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, the final two installments of the Met's new Ring cycle, as well as the new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Tickets for the 2011-12 Live in HD season will go on sale in the U.S. on Monday, August 29 at www.FathomEvents.com. The Met distributes its shows to more than 700 locations in the United States, including more than 640 participating NCM Fathom theaters. This season, approximately 1600 theaters in 51 countries around the world will participate in The Met: Live in HD. New countries added this year will include China, Cyprus, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Morocco, and the territory of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Last year, a record number of more than 2.6 million Live in HD tickets were sold to opera lovers across the globe.

The 2011-12 Live in HD season features 11 transmissions, which include a Met premiere, a world premiere, three new productions of repertory favorites, and the final two installments of a new Ring cycle. In addition to Netrebko in the title role, Anna Bolena (October 15) stars Ekaterina Gubanova as GiovAnna Seymour and Ildar Abdrazakov as Enrico (Henry VIII).

Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels, Plácido Domingo, Danielle De Niese, and Luca Pisaroni are among the stars of The Enchanted Island (Jan. 21), a world premiere work inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century. Devised and written by Jeremy Sams with a story drawn from Shakespeare, The Enchanted Island showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others. William Christie conducts; the production is directed by Phelim McDermott.

Tony Award-winning directors Michael Grandage and Des McAnuff make their respective Met debuts with new productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni (October 29) and Gounod's Faust (December 10). James Levine conducts Don Giovanni, which stars Mariusz Kwiecien in his first Met performances of the iconic title role opposite Barbara Frittoli, Ramón Vargas, Luca Pisaroni, and debuting sopranos Marina Rebeka and Mojca Erdmann. Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and René Pape take the demanding leading roles of Faust, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Netrebko sings her second title role this season in the new production of Massenet's Manon (April 7), conducted by Principal Guest Conductor Fabio Luisi, directed by Laurent Pelly, and also starring Piotr Beczala and Paulo Szot. Robert Lepage's exciting new staging of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen reaches its spectacular conclusion with new productions of Siegfried (November 5) and Götterdämmerung (February 11), both conducted by Levine. Siegfried stars Deborah Voigt, Gary Lehman, Eric Owens, and Bryn Terfel; Voigt, Lehman, and Owens also star in Götterdämmerung.
Other highlights of the Live in HD season include Philip Glass's opera based on the life of Gandhi, Satyagraha, in an inspiring production by McDermott that stars Richard Croft (November 19); Renée Fleming in one of her greatest portrayals, the title role in Handel's virtuosic Rodelinda (December 3), also starring Stephanie Blythe and Andreas Scholl; Verdi's Ernani, starring rising soprano Angela Meade opposite experienced Verdians Marcello Giordani, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Ferruccio Furlanetto (February 25); and Natalie Dessay in her Met role debut as Violetta in Willy Decker's theatrically compelling production of Verdi's La Traviata, with Hvorostovsky and Matthew Polenzani. Complete casting and details of the season's Live in HD performances follow below.
All 11 high-definition productions will be shown live worldwide on Saturdays through April 14. Most operas will begin at 12:55 EST, with some operas beginning earlier in the afternoon; exact starting times appear on the schedule below. The majority of encore presentations in the United States will be shown on Wednesdays, 18 days after the live exhibition. Ticket sales to the general public begin on Monday, August 29, online and at the box offices of participating theaters in the U.S. and the Atlantic provinces of Canada. For complete information on locations and tickets, visit www.metopera.org/hdlive.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from The Neubauer Family Foundation. Bloomberg L.P. is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD. The HD broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder®.

2011-12 Schedule of Live in HD Transmissions

October 15 at 12:55 PM/ET - ANNA BOLENA (Donizetti) - Met Premiere Production
Marco Armiliato; Anna Netrebko (Anna Bolena), Ekaterina Gubanova (GiovAnna Seymour), Tamara Mumford (Smeton), Stephen Costello (Lord Riccardo Percy), Ildar Abdrazakov (Enrico VIII); Host: Renée Fleming

David McVicar (Production); Robert Jones (Set Designer); Jenny Tiramani (Costume Designer);
Paule Constable (Lighting Designer); Andrew George (Choreographer)

October 29 at 12:55 PM/ET - DON GIOVANNI (Mozart) - New Production
James Levine; Marina Rebeka (Donna Anna), Barbara Frittoli (Donna Elvira), Mojca Erdmann
(Zerlina), Ramón Vargas (Don Ottavio), Mariusz Kwiecien (Don Giovanni), Luca Pisaroni
(Leporello), Joshua Bloom (Masetto), Štefan Kocán (The Commendatore); Host: Renée Fleming

Michael Grandage (Production); Christopher Oram (Set & Costume Designer); Paule Constable
(Lighting Designer); Ben Wright (Choreographer)

November 5 at 12PM/ET - SIEGFRIED (Wagner) - New Production
James Levine; Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Patricia Bardon (Erda), Gary Lehman (Siegfried),
Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Bryn Terfel (Wanderer), Eric Owens (Alberich); Host: Renée Fleming

Robert Lepage (Production); Neilson Vignola (Assistant Director); Carl Fillion (Set Designer);

François St-Aubin (Costume Designer); Étienne Boucher (Lighting Designer); Pedro Pires (Video Image Artist)

November 19 at 12:55 PM/ET - SATYAGRAHA (Glass)
Dante Anzolini; Rachelle Durkin (Miss Schlesen), Richard Croft (M. K. Gandhi), Kim Josephson (Mr. Kallenbach), AlFRed Walker (Parsi Rustomji); Host: Eric Owens

Phelim McDermott (Production), Julian Crouch (Associate Director & Set Designer), Kevin Pollard (Costume Designer), Paule Constable (Lighting Designer)

December 3 at 12:30PM/ET- RODELINDA (Handel)
Harry Bicket; Renée Fleming (Rodelinda), Stephanie Blythe (Eduige), Andreas Scholl (Bertarido), Iestyn Davies (Unulfo), Kobie van Rensburg (Grimoaldo), Shenyang (Garibaldo); Host: Deborah Voigt

Stephen Wadsworth (Production), Thomas Lynch (Set Designer), Martin Pakledinaz (Costume Designer), Peter Kaczorowski (Lighting Designer)

December 10 at 12:55 PM/ET - FAUST (Gounod) - New Production
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Marina Poplavskaya (Marguerite), Michèle Losier (Siébel), Jonas
Kaufmann (Faust), Russell Braun (Valentin), René Pape (Méphistophélès); Host: Joyce DiDonato

Des McAnuff (Production); Robert Brill (Set Designer); Paul Tazewell (Costume Designer);
Peter Mumford (Lighting Designer); Dustin O'Neill (Video Designer); Kelly Devine (Choreographer)

January 21 at 12:55 PM/ET - THE ENCHANTED ISLAND (Handel, Rameau, Vivaldi & others) - World Premiere Production
William Christie; Danielle De Niese (Ariel), Lisette Oropesa (Miranda), Joyce DiDonato (Sycorax), David Daniels (Prospero), Anthony Roth Costanzo (Ferdinand), Plácido Domingo (Neptune), Luca Pisaroni (Caliban); Host: Deborah Voigt

Devised and written by Jeremy Sams; Phelim McDermott (Production); Julian Crouch (Associate Director & Set Designer); Kevin Pollard (Costume Designer); Brian MacDevitt (Lighting Designer); Graciela Daniele (Choreographer); 59 Productions (Animation & Projection Design)

February 11 at 12PM/ET - GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG (Wagner) - New Production
James Levine; Deborah Voigt (Brünnhilde), Wendy Bryn Harmer (Gutrune), Waltraud Meier (Waltraute), Gary Lehman (Siegfried), Iain Paterson (Gunther), Eric Owens (Alberich), Hans-Peter König (Hagen); Host: Patricia Racette

Robert Lepage (Production); Neilson Vignola (Assistant Director); Carl Fillion (Set Designer);

François St-Aubin (Costume Designer); Étienne Boucher (Lighting Designer); Pedro Pires (Video Image Artist)

February 25 at 12:55 PM/ET - ERNANI (Verdi)
Marco Armiliato; Angela Meade (Elvira), Marcello Giordani (Ernani), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Don Carlo), Ferruccio Furlanetto (de Silva); Host: Deborah Voigt

Pier Luigi Samaritani (Production and Set Design), Peter J. Hall (Costume Designer), Gil Wechsler (Lighting Designer), Staged by Peter McClintock

April 7 at 12 PM/ET- MANON (Massenet) - New Production
Fabio Luisi; Anna Netrebko (Manon), Piotr Beczala (Chevalier des Grieux), Paulo Szot (Lescaut), David Pittsinger (Comte des Grieux); Host: Natalie Dessay

Laurent Pelly (Production & Costume Designer); ChantAl Thomas (Set Designer); Joël Adam (Lighting Designer); Lionel Hoche (Choreographer)

April 14 at 12:55 PM/ET- LA TRAVIATA (Verdi)
Fabio Luisi; Natalie Dessay (Violetta Valéry), Matthew Polenzani (Alfredo Germont), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Giorgio Germont); Host: Deborah Voigt

Willy Decker (Production), Wolfgang Gussmann (Set & Costume Designer), Hans Toelstede (Lighting Designer), Athol Farmer (Choreographer)