Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

Metropolitan Opera Live in HD

Metropolitan Opera Live in HD (also known as The Met: Live in HD) is a series of live opera performances transmitted in high-definition video via satellite from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City to select venues, primarily movie theaters, in the United States and other parts of the world. The first transmission was of a condensed English-language version of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte on December 30, 2006.

Contents

History

To transmit the series via satellite simulcast in the US, the Met has partnered with NCM Fathom, a division of National CineMedia. The series is broadcast to AMC Theatres, Cinemark, Regal Entertainment Group (Regal Cinemas, United Artists and Edwards), Goodrich, Kerasotes, Marcus and National Amusements movie theaters as well as a series of independent venues such as arts centres and college campuses. Its aims include building a larger audience for the Met and garnering excitement for arts at a local level.

The original idea for presenting operas in this way came from the new incoming general manager of the Met, Peter Gelb in late 2006. Exhibiting the Met's performances in digital movie theaters is in line with other audience-expanding efforts by the Met such as radio broadcasts on Sirius Radio, iPod downloads, live streaming video on the Met website, and free opening night screenings in Times Square and at Lincoln Center. The Met is also sponsoring free HD broadcasts into selected New York City public schools.[1]

The simulcasts allow more people to experience the excitement of the Met's high-quality performance offerings. This audience includes current opera fans unable to get to New York City to see the shows in person and potential opera fans looking for an easy, affordable method of checking out a new art form.

Tom Galley, chief operations and technology officer of National CineMedia, describes the experience by saying:

"This Metropolitan Opera series is a unique opportunity for people to experience world-class opera in their local community, plus the movie theatre environment and affordable ticket price make these events something that the entire family can enjoy. If you’ve never had the pleasure of attending a live opera performance before, this is the perfect opportunity to see why this magical art form has captured audiences’ imaginations for generations."[citation needed]

In the US, the series has also been broadcast in both high definition and regular TV as part of the Public Broadcasting Service's Great Performances series. In addition, selected performances can now be viewed online.[2]

International expansion

The first season included seven theatres in Britain, two in Japan and one in Norway. After its successful launch, several other countries joined for the second season and 100 screens were added, selling an additional 20,000 tickets.[citation needed] These included cinemas in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

2008 saw the network expand even further to include more screens in the countries named above plus other countries such as Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Argentina [3] (Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata), and Poland, as well as the territory of Puerto Rico.[4]

Reaction in the British press has been positive:

"...opera is, in fact, managing to find new audiences, all over the world. Down at the Ritzy, my local cinema in Brixton, London, I've been able, since December, to see live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York...[5]

Another commentator, the author Peter Conrad, praised Gelb's showmanship:

"The relays are the brainchild of the Met's new general manager, Peter Gelb, or one of his innumerable brainchildren, part of a campaign both to rejuvenate the Met's audience in New York and to welcome what he calls 'the global opera community' into the fold. When I met Gelb in New York last week, I told him I'd decided that seeing The Barber in Clapham (just south of central London) was actually better than being at the Met. 'Oh no, that's bad,' he groaned. 'We must be doing too good a job." [6]

Met HD series by season

2006-07

Beginning on December 30, 2006, as part of the company's effort to build revenues and attract new audiences, the Met broadcast a series of six performances live via satellite into movie theaters.[7]

The series was carried in over 100 movie theaters across North America plus others in Britain, Japan and one in Norway.[8]

During this season, the series included:

  • Julie Taymor's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute,[9][10] on December 30, 2006, in an abridged English version cunducted by James Levine and starring Ying Huang as Pamina, Matthew Polenzani as Tamino, and Nathan Gunn as Papageno.
  • Bellini's I Puritani, on January 6, 2007, starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler and Franco Vassallo in the roles of Elvira, Arturo and Riccardo, in the 1976 Sandro Sequi production conducted by Patrick Summers.
  • The world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor, on January 13, 2007, with Plácido Domingo in the title role of Emperor Qin in a production by Zhan Yimou and conducted by Dun himself.
  • Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, on February 24, 2007, starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renée Fleming and Ramón Vargas in the roles of Onegin, Tatiana and Lensky in Robert Carsen's simple but beautiful production conducted by Valery Gergiev.
  • Rossini'sIl Barbiere di Siviglia, on March 24, 2007, in the new hit production by Bartlett Sher, with Peter Mattei, Joyce Didonato and Juan Diego Florez as Figaro, Rosina and Almaviva, and conducted by Maurizio Benini.
  • Puccini's Il Trittico, on April 28, 2007, in another new hit production, this time by Jack O'Brien and conducted by James Levine. Maria Guleghina, Salvatore Licitra and Juan Pons, in the roles of Giorgetta, Luigi and Michele, sang in Il Tabarro, Barbara Frittoli starred in the title role of Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi was played by Alessandro Corbelli with Olga Mykytenko and Massimo Giordano in the roles of Lauretta and Rinuccio. Stephanie Blythe starred in all three operas, singing the roles of Frugola, the Princess and Zita.

In addition, limited repeat showings of the operas were offered in most of the presenting cities. Within the US, digital sound for the performances was provided by Sirius Satellite Radio.

These movie transmissions were successful at the box office as well as having received wide and generally favorable press coverage.[11] The Met reports that 91% of available seats were sold for the HD performances.[12] According to General Manager Peter Gelb, there were 60,000 people in cinemas around the world watching the March 24 transmission of The Barber of Seville.[13] The New York Times reported that 324,000 tickets were sold worldwide for the 2006-07 season, while each simulcast cost $850,000 to $1 million to produce.[14]

2007-08

Due to the success of the first season, the Metropolitan Opera decided to increase the number of HD broadcasts to movie theaters from six to eight during the 2007-2008 season. Further, the number of available theaters expanded to 330 across the US and additional countries throughout the world.

The first showing on December 15, 2007, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, was seen on 477 screens and sold an estimated 97,000 tickets. The series continued by featuring seven more of the Met's productions following Roméo et Juliette and ending with La fille du régiment on April 26, 2008.[15]

The Met planned to broadcast to double the number of theaters in the US compared with the previous season, as well as to additional countries. The number of participating venues in the US, which includes movie theatre chains as well as independent theatres and some college campus venues, was 343.[14][16] While "the scope of the series expands to include more than 700 locations across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.... The Met has said that it hopes to reach as many as one million audience members with this season's HD transmissions"[17]

The schedule of live broadcasts included:

  • Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, on December 15, 2007, starring Roberto Alagna and Anna Netrebko in the title roles with Plácido Domingo conducting the 2005 Guy Joostsen production.
  • Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, on January 1, 2008, in a creepy new production by Richard Jones, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, starring Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer in the title roles.
  • Verdi's Macbeth, on January 12, 2008, in Adrian Noble's new production of its 1865 revised version starring Zeljko Lucic in the title role and Maria Guleghina as Lady Macbeth. Met music director James Levine conducts
  • Puccini's Manon Lescaut, on February 16, 2008, conducted by James Levine, with Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani as Manon and Des Grieux in the 1980 Desmond Heeley production.
  • Britten's Peter Grimes, on March 15, 2008, with Anthony Dean Griffey in the title role and Patricia Racette in the role of Ellen Orford, conducted by Donald Runnicles, in a new production by John Doyle.
  • Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, on March 22, 2008, with Robert Dean Smith, making his Met debut stepping in at the last minute for an ill Ben Heppner in the role of Tristan, opposite to Deborah Voigt in the 1999 Dieter Dorn production, conducted by James Levine.
  • Puccini's La bohème, on April 5, 2008, the Met's most popular opera, with Angela Gheorghiu as Mimi, Ramón Vargas as Rodolfo, Ainhoa Arteta as Musetta, and Ludovic Tézier as Marcello, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, in the 1980 classic Zeffirelli production.
  • Donizetti's La fille du régiment, on April 26, 2008, with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez reprising their success in Europe in Laurent Pelly comic production. Marco Armiliato conducts.

By the end of the season, 920,000 people - exceeding the total number of people who attended live performances at the Met over the entire season - attended the 8 screenings bringing in a gross of $13.3 million from North America and $5 million from overseas.[18]

2008-09

The HD season for 2008-2009 included 11 productions.

As of February 2009, over 1.1 million tickets to HD broadcasts had been sold.

2009-10

The 2009-2010 season included nine productions:

2010-11

The season for 2010-11 included HD transmissions of 12 operas.

2011-12

The season for 2011-12 is scheduled to include HD transmissions of 11 operas.

References

  1. ^ "Metropolitan Opera to Offer Hi-Def Simulcasts in NYC Public Schools" Playbill.com, December 12, 2007
  2. ^ "Operas from The Met" ClassicalTV
  3. ^ >
  4. ^ "The Metropolitan Opera Announces Expansion of Live, High-Definition Transmissions to Eleven in 2008-09" press release, April 22, 2008
  5. ^ Tom Service, "Give me divas - not DJs", The Guardian (London), March 22, 2008
  6. ^ Peter Conrad, "Opera from New York in your home town? Easy. Just go to the pictures", The Guardian (London), April 22, 2007
  7. ^ "Tickets for Metropolitan Opera's High-Definition Movie Theater Simulcasts to Go on Sale 11/18". Opera News Online, November 16, 2006.
  8. ^ Campbell Robertson, "Mozart, Now Singing at a Theatre Near You", New York Times, January 1, 2007
  9. ^ List of Met productions presented on HD in 2007
  10. ^ "Metropolitan Opera's First Simulcast of 2007-08 Breaks Attendance Records" Playbill.com, December 17, 2007.
  11. ^ Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, "Movie theaters offer opera live from the Met". San Diego Union-Tribune, December 31, 2006.
  12. ^ Richard Ouzounian, "Opera Screen Dream: Met simulcasts heat up plexes in cities, stix", Variety, March 5–11, 2007, pp 41/42
  13. ^ Peter Gelb, speaking during the intermission on March 24, 2007, noted that over 250 movie theatres were presenting the performance that day.
  14. ^ a b Daniel Watkin, "Met Opera To Expand Simulcasts In Theaters", The New York Times, May 17, 2007
  15. ^ The Met Opera’s 2007-08 Season to Feature Seven New Productions – the Most in More than 40 Years
  16. ^ "Participating Theatres - Met Opera Live in HD Series - LIVE PERFORMANCES", announced October 2, 2007
  17. ^ Adam Wasserman, "Changing Definitions", Opera News, December 2007, p.60
  18. ^ Pamela McClintock, "Live perfs have Met beaming", Variety, June 11, 2008, reporting on a survey conducted by Opera America

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