The Met Opera Presents AT-HOME GALA: Encore Screening, 12-13 Jun 2020

New York, N.Y. - As part of The Metropolitan Opera's (Met Opera) urgent "The Voice Must Be Heard" fundraising campaign to support and protect the future of opera amid the COVID-19, more than 40 leading opera artists and members of the company's brilliant orchestra and chorus performed from their respective homes all around the world. The unprecedented virtual gathering of Met Opera's principal artists, ensemble, and orchestra, billed as At-Home Gala, was streamed live around the world in 162 countries on 25 April 2020, viewed by more than 750,000 global audience members.

The acclaimed two-day re-broadcast of At-Home Gala (Encore Screening) generously sponsored by Mercedes T. Bass and Rolex will have its re-broadcast this Friday, 12 June, and Saturday, 13 June, on Met Opera's official website until 6:30 pm EDT the following day. Hosted from their homes by General Manager Peter Gelb in N.Y. and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Montreal, Canada was made possible through the use of video conferencing software, edited together from elaborate performances and recorded dozens of individual takes by each member of the Met Opera ensemble.

"It was a very challenging logistical effort. We invented a new application of technology as we go along. I wanted to have a program that can connect multiple locations around the world without any standard equipment. This is a Skype gala on a very high level with five Skype lines all at once," Gelb said. Eight weeks before the closing of the 2019-20 season, the performance was cut due to the pandemic, The Nightly Opera Streams and the At-Home Gala was created. Using the advancement in technology made the opportunity for audiences to connect with the music and artists they love and bring light into people's lives even when the theater is dark. This virtual uplifting event led to enormous viewership and an outpouring of support for the Met Opera."

Opera's greatest singers from the biggest hits of previous and recent seasons of the Met Opera who participated live are "Deh vieni alla finestra" from Mozart's Don Giovanni by Peter Mattei with Lars David Nilsson on accordion (Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden), "Caro elisir" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore by Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak with Morgane Fauchois Prado on piano (Le Raincy, France), "Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix" from Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila by Anita Rachvelishvili with Nikoloz Rachveli on piano (Tbilisi, Georgia), "Rachel, quand du Seigneur" from Halévy's La Juive by Jonas Kaufmann with Helmut Deutsch on piano (Munich, Germany), "Nemico della patria" from Giordano's Andrea Chénier by Ambrogio Maestri with Marco Armiliato on piano (Lugano, Switzerland), "Chacun le sait" from Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment by Erin Morley self-accompanied on the piano (New Haven, Connecticut), "O du, mein holder Abendstern" from Wagner's Tannhäuser by Michael Volle with Klaus Sallmann on piano (Berlin, Germany), "Heimwee" by S. le Roux Marais performed a capella by Elza van den Heever (Montpellier, France), "Danny Boy" lyrics by Frederic Weatherly performed by Matthew Polenzani self-accompanied on the piano (Pelham, New York), "If I Can Help Somebody" by Alma Bazel Androzzo played by Bryn Terfel with Hannah Stone on harp (Wales), "O don fatale" from Verdi's Don Carlo by Jamie Barton with Jonathan Easter on piano (Atlanta, Georgia), "Per me giunto e il dì supremo" from Verdi's Don Carlo by Quinn Kelsey with Nicole Bellamy on piano (Toronto, Canada), "Vesenniye void" ("Floods of Spring") Op. 14, No. 11 by Sergei Rachmaninoff performed by Ildar Abdrazakov (Moscow, Russia), "Ah! lève-toi, soleil!" from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette by Joseph Calleja with Maria Elena Farrugia on piano (Mellieha, Malta), "A te, o cara" from Bellini's I Puritani by Lawrence Brownlee with Myra Huang on piano (Niceville, Florida), "Wie schön ist doch die Musik" from R. Strauss's Die Schweigsame Frau by Günther Groissböck self-accompanied on piano (Lugano, Switzerland), "Somewhere" from Bernstein's West Side Story performed a capella by Isabel Leonard (N.Y.), "En vain j'espère" from Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable by Lisette Oropesa with Michael Borowitz on piano (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) and "Baigne d'eau mes mains" from Massenet's Thaïs by Nicole Car and Etienne Dupuis on piano (Paris, France).

The remaining performances pre-recorded live are "Kuda, kuda" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin by Michael Fabiano with Howard Watkins on piano (Bonita Springs, Florida), "Ave Maria" from Verdi's Otello by Renée Fleming with Howard Watkins on piano (Virginia), "Habańera" from Bizet's Carmen by Elīna Garanča with Bryan Wagorn on piano (Riga, Latvia), "Depuis le jour" from Charpentier's Louise by Angel Blue with Bryan Wagorn on piano (Alpine, New Jersey), "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte by René Pape with Thomas Lausmann on piano (Dresden, Germany), "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta" from Puccini's La Rondine by Golda Schultz with Thomas Lausmann on piano (Bavaria, Germany), "Pena tiranna" from Handel's Amadigi di Gaula by Anthony Roth Costanzo with Susan Spector on oboe, William Short on bassoon, and Bryan Wagorn on piano (N.Y.), "Song to the Moon" from Dvorák's Rusalka by Sonya Yoncheva with Jonathan Cameron Kelly on piano (Geneva, Switzerland), "Si, mi chiamano Mimì" from Puccini's La Bohème by Nadine Sierra with Bryan Wagorn on piano (Valencia, Spain), "Recondita armonia" from Puccini's Tosca by Piotr Beczała with Thomas Lausmann on piano (Zabnica, Poland), "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni by Diana Damrau and Nicolas Testé with Thomas Lausmann on piano (Orange, France), "Che gelida manina" from Puccini's La Bohème by Yusif Eyvazov with Jendrik Springer on piano (Vienna, Austria), "A brani, a brani, o perfido" from Verdi's Luisa Miller by Ailyn Pérez and Soloman Howard with Bryan Wagorn on piano (Chicago, Illinois), "Salut! demeure chaste et pure" from Gounod's Faust by Stephen Costello with Yoon Kwon Costello on violin (live), and Jonathan Cameron Kelly on piano (pre-recorded from N.Y.), "Nel furor delle tempeste" from Bellini's Il Pirata by Javier Camarena with Howard Watkins on piano (Zurich, Switzerland) and "Ne poy, krasavitsa, pri mne,"("Sing not to me, beautiful maiden") Op. 4, No. 4, by Sergei Rachmaninoff performed by Anna Netrebko with Jendrik Springer on piano (Vienna, Austria).

Days leading up to the gala presentation, Nézet-Séguin conducted in pre-recorded performances by the Met Orchestra and Chorus, captured from the musicians' homes featuring "Va, pensiero" from Verdi's Nabucco, also known as the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves," became the highlight of the gala. The Met Orchestra performed the famous Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and the Prelude to Act III of Wagner's Lohengrin, while Met concertmaster David Chan and Nézet-Séguin performed the Méditation from Massenet's Thaïs. As a loving tribute to Met violist and conductor Vincent Lionti who recently died from complications of COVID-19, members of the Met Orchestra viola section and Joyce DiDonato performed the opening aria "Ombra mai fù" from Handel's Serse. The videos are compiled and edited by Pete Scalzitti.

After the two-day encore screening, the At-Home Gala virtual presentation will be available on the Met Opera archive on-demand viewing with more than 700 full-length Met Opera performances collection from old-school legends to today's great stars. The application is free for Amazon Fire TV, tablet, iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Roku, and Samsung Smart TV.

Photos: The Met Opera

To post a comment, you must register and login.