The MET Opera Releases A DVD Of 'THE MAGIC FLUTE' 12/18

The Metropolitan Opera will release the DVD of its abridged, English-language production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, the inaugural transmission of the company's Emmy award-winning Live in HD series from December 2006. The first self-produced DVD by the Met, The Magic Flute DVD will retail for $25.00. It will be available exclusively at the Met Opera Shop beginning December 18, timed to performances of The Magic Flute on the Met stage beginning December 22.

Created to appeal to music lovers of all ages, the 110-minute production is conducted by Met Music Director James Levine, and directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King). It features the spectacular visual effects of Taymor's original, German-language production of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), including fanciful puppets of a dragon, birds and dancing bears. "Magical...an enchanting ride," raved The New York Times of Taymor's original production.

Heading the cast of The Magic Flute are Ying Huang as Pamina, Erika Miklósa as Queen of the Night, Matthew Polenzani as Tamino, Nathan Gunn as Papageno, and René Pape as Sarastro.

The story is essentially a fairy tale. The noble Prince Tamino is encouraged by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter, Pamina, from the "wicked" sorcerer Sarastro. It becomes apparent, however, that Sarastro was actually saving Pamina from her wicked mother. Tamino and his friend, the very mortal bird catcher Papageno, are indoctrinated at Sarastro's temple and, after the Queen and her minions are defeated, a happy ending ensues. Courage, virtue and wisdom triumph, but not before the simple but endearing Papageno finds his beloved Papagena.

The Magic Flute, hailed by the Toronto Star as "one of the most talked-about Flutes in Met history, with sets and costumes worthy of Broadway at its most dazzling", was directed for broadcast by Gary Halvorson for the Met. The new English translation is by the poet J.D. McClatchy and the settings are by George Tsypin, with Donald Holder as lighting designer. Julie Taymor designed the costumes and co-designed the puppets with Michael Curry. Mark Dendy is choreographer.

The Magic Flute is the ninth Live in HD production to be released on DVD. Prior releases include Eugene Onegin (Decca), I Puritani (Deutsche Grammophon), The First Emperor, Hansel and Gretel, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Peter Grimes, and La Bohème (EMI).

About the Met

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. Six new productions debut at the Met in 2008-09, including the company premiere of John Adams's Doctor Atomic.

Building on its 77-year-old international radio broadcast history - heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network - the Met now uses advanced media distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world. The Met: Live in HD, the company's Emmy-winning series of live performance transmissions, shown in high definition in movie theaters around the world, expands from eight to eleven transmissions in 2008-09 and includes distribution in New York City public schools and a number of pilot programs in schools around the country. Global distribution of the series this season reaches over 850 participating venues in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. These performances began airing on PBS in March 2008.

Continuing its innovative use of electronic media to reach a global audience, the Metropolitan Opera introduces Met Player, a new subscription service that makes its extensive video and audio catalog of full-length performances available to the public for the first time online, and in exceptional, state-of-the-art quality. Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79 is a subscription-based audio service broadcasting both live and rare historical performances. In addition to providing audio recordings through the Met on Rhapsody on-demand service, the company also presents free live audio streaming of performances on its website once every week during the opera season with support from RealNetworks®.

The Met has recently launched several audience development initiatives, including Open House dress rehearsals, the Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met, reduced ticket prices-including an immensely popular new rush ticket program, and an annual Holiday Series presentation for families. For more information, please visit www.metopera.org.
Contact: Lee Abrahamian/Peter Clark/Charlie Siedenburg
Metropolitan Opera
(212) 870-7457
labrahamian@metopera.org/pclark@metopera.org/csiedenburg@metopera.org

 

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