The Metropolitan Opera Announces its 2018 Summer HD Festival
By: Stephi Wild Jul. 18, 2018
The Metropolitan Opera's annual Summer HD Festival, which presents free outdoor screenings of operas on Lincoln Center Plaza, will return for the tenth time this summer, with one screening each night from Saturday, August 25, to Monday September 3, 2018 (Labor Day). The series will present ten recent performances from the company's acclaimed Live in HD series of movie theater transmissions. As a prelude to the festival, the Marx Brothers' classic film, A Night at the Opera, will be presented on the plaza on Friday, August 24, in association with the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
The festival opens with Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher's Roméo et Juliette conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and starring Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo. Over the course of the ten night festival, many of the Met's biggest stars will be featured, including Sondra Radvanovsky and Joyce DiDonato in Bellini's Norma, Nina Stemme in Strauss's Elektra, Isabel Leonard in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Pretty Yende in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and Renée Fleming and El?na Garan?a in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.
Each evening of the festival, close to 3,000 seats will be available on the plaza on a first-come, first-served basis, as well as additional space for overflow crowds. No tickets are required, and there are no rain dates.
The Summer HD Festival is generously supported by The Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust. Additional funding is provided by The Aetna Foundation.
The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met: Live in HD is supported by Rolex.
The Met's 2018 Summer HD Festival Schedule
Friday, August 24, 8:00 PM: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (pre-festival event)
The most popular of 13 films created by the legendary Marx Brothers, A Night at the Opera, endures as one of the funniest comedies to ever appear on the silver screen. A Night at the Opera was selected in 1993 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" A co-presentation of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera.
Approximate running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Saturday, August 25, 8:00 PM: ROMÉO ET JULIETTE
Bartlett Sher's acclaimed production stars Diana Damrau as Juliette and Vittorio Grigolo as Roméo. Gianandrea Noseda conducts Gounod's popular score. (Original transmission: January 21, 2017).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Sunday, August 26, 7:45 PM: NORMA
Sondra Radvanovsky stars as the title role in Sir David McVicar's production. Joyce DiDonato and Joseph Calleja complete the star-studded bel canto cast. Carlo Rizzi conducts.(Original transmission: October 7, 2017).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Monday, August 27, 8:00 PM: ELEKTRA
Nina Stemme stars in Patrice Chéreau's landmark production, alongside Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, and Eric Owens. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts. (Original transmission: April 30, 2016).
Approximate running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Tuesday, August 28, 8:00 PM: IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA
A youthful cast brings Rossini's immortal comedy to sparkling life, led by Christopher Maltman as Figaro and Isabel Leonard as Rosina. Lawrence Brownlee sings Count Almaviva and Rossini's lively score is conducted by Michele Mariotti. (Original transmission: November 22, 2014).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Wednesday, August 29, 7:30 PM: LULU
William Kentridge's multi-layered production of Berg's masterpiece stars charismatic soprano Marlis Petersen in the title role. The men around her, whose lives she forever alters, are Johan Reuter as newspaper publisher Dr. Schön; Daniel Brenna as his composer son, Alwa; Paul Groves as the Painter; and Franz Grundheber as Schigolch. Susan Graham sings Countess Geschwitz, and Lothar Koenigs conducts Berg's landmark score. (Original transmission: November 21, 2015).
Approximate running time: 3 hours
Thursday, August 30, 7:45 PM: RUSALKA
Sir Mark Elder conducts Dvorak's tragedy with an acclaimed cast led by Kristine Opolais. Mary Zimmerman's production features Brandon Jovanovich as The Prince, Eric Owens as the Water Gnome, and Jamie Barton as Ježibaba. (Original transmission: February 25, 2017)
Approximate running time: 2 hour, 45 minutes
Friday, August 31, 8:00 PM: L'ELISIR D'AMORE
Pretty Yende sings Adina opposite Matthew Polenzani, who enthralled Met audiences as Nemorino in 2013 with his ravishing "Una furtiva lagrima". Domingo Hindoyan conducts Bartlett Sher's charming production. (Original transmission: February 10, 2018)
Approximate running time: 2 hour, 10 minutes
Saturday, September 1, 8:00 PM: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
David Alden's 2012 production features Marcelo Álvarez and Sondra Radvanovsky in leading roles. Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Kathleen Kim, and Stephanie Blythe also star. Fabio Luisi conducts. (Original transmission: December 8, 2012).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Sunday, September 2, 7:15 PM: DER ROSENKAVALIER
Renée Fleming sings her final performance as the elegant princess in Robert Carsen's madcap production-which sets the action in 1911, the year of the work's premiere. El?na Garan?a sings as the Marschallin's impetuous young lover alongside Erin Morley, Matthew Polenzani, and Günther Groissböck. (Original transmission: May 13, 2017).
Approximate running time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
Monday, September 3, 8:00 PM: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
Puccini's timeless tragedy stars Kristine Opolais as the title role, a trusting and innocent young geisha. Roberto Alagna sings B. F. Pinkerton and Dwayne Croft is Sharpless. Anthony Minghella's staging is conducted by Karel Mark Chichon. (Original transmission: April 2, 2016).
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
The Met: Live in HD is produced in association with WNET and PBS.
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