Great Performances At The Met Kicks Off 2018 With Bellini's NORMA

Season 12 of Great Performances AT THE MET begins with a new production of Bellini's masterpiece about a woman scorned, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. Norma stars Sondra Radvanovsky as the titular druid high priestess, opposite Joyce DiDonato as Norma's new rival and Joseph Calleja as her unfaithful lover - a casting dream for Bel Canto fans.

Sir David McVicar's production is set deep in a forest where druids and warriors seek revenge against the conquering Romans. Norma is scorned by the Roman proconsul Pollione, with whom she has two children. Her kindness turns to fury when she discovers that Pollione has taken Adalgisa, a novice priestess, as his new lover. When Pollione loses his high rank in the army and is offered as a sacrifice, Norma promises him freedom under one condition. Soprano Susanna Phillips hosts the broadcast.

Airdates

National: Friday, January 26 at 9 p.m.; encore Sunday, January 28 at 12 p.m. (check local listings)

New York: Friday, January 26 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN.

Notable Talent:

• Sondra Radvanovsky - Norma
• Joyce DiDonato - Adalgisa
• Joseph Calleja - Pollione
• Matthew Rose - Oroveso
• Carlo Rizzi - Conductor
• Susanna Phillips, host

Run time: 3 hours

Production Credits:

• Sir David McVicar - Producer
• Robert Jones - Set Design
• Moritz Junge - Costume Design
• Paule Constable - Lightning Designer
• Leah Hausman - Movement Director

For the Met, Gary Halvorson directs the telecast. David Frost is Music Producer. Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are Supervising Producers, and Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik are Producers. Peter Gelb is Executive Producer. For Great Performances, Bill O'Donnell is Series Producer; David Horn is Executive Producer.

Corporate support for Great Performances AT THE MET is provided by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder. Major funding for the Met Opera presentation is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. This Great Performances presentation is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Philip A.D.Janice Levin Foundation, The Agnes Varis Trust, The Joseph & Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus and public television viewers.

Great Performances at the Met is a presentation of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, bringing the best of the Metropolitan Opera into the homes of classical music fans across the United States.

WNET is America's flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (THIRTEEN PBSKids, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend and a range of documentaries, children's programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET's groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state's unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport.

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA is America's leading performing arts organization and a vibrant home for the world's most creative and talented artists, including singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers, and dancers. The company presents more than 200 performances each season of a wide variety of operas, ranging from early masterpieces to contemporary works. In recent years, the Met has launched many initiatives designed to make opera more accessible, most prominently the Live in HD series of cinema transmissions, which dramatically expands the Met audience by allowing select performances to be seen in more than 2,000 theaters in more than 70 countries around the world.

To post a comment, you must register and login.