Saturday 24 October, 2009, 6.00pm Aida
Conductor Daniele Gatti Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Saturday 7 November, 2009, 6.00pm Turandot
Conductor Andris Nelsons Composer Giacomo Puccini
Saturday 19 December, 2009, 6.00pm Les Contes D’Hoffmann
Conductor James Levine Composer Jacques Offenbach
Saturday 9 January, 2010, 6.00pm Der Rosenkavalier
Conductor James Levine Composer Richard Strauss
Saturday 16 January, 2010, 6.00pm Carmen
Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin Composer Georges Bizet
Saturday 6 February, 2010, 6.00pm Simon Boccanegra
Conductor James Levine Composer Giuseppe Verdi
Saturday 27 March, 2010, 5.00pm Hamlet
Conductor Louis Langrée Composer Ambroise Thomas
Synopses
Saturday, 10th October, 6pm Giacomo Puccini TOSCA
The opera tells the story of three people—a famous opera singer, a free-thinking painter, and a sadistic chief of police—caught in a net of love and politics. Soprano Karita Mattila, recently seen in last season’s Live in HD presentation of Salome, sings the title role for the first time outside her native
Conductor: James Levine; Production: Luc Bondy; Karita Mattila, Marcelo Álvarez, Juha Uusitalo, Paul Plishka
Running time 3 hour 27 minutes/two intermissions
Saturday, 24th October, 6pm Giuseppe Verdi AIDA
Set in ancient
Conductor: Daniele Gatti; Production: Sonja Frisell; Violeta Urmana, Dolora Zajick, Johan Botha, Carlo Guelfi, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Stefan Kocán
Running time 3 hours 56 minutes/two intermissions
Saturday, 7th November, 6pm Giacomo Puccini – TURANDOT
Director Franco Zeffirelli’s breathtaking production of Puccini’s last opera is a favorite of the Met repertoire. Maria Guleghina plays the ruthless Chinese princess of the title, whose hatred of men is so strong that she has all suitors who can’t solve her riddles beheaded. Marcello Giordani sings Calàf, the unknown prince who eventually wins her love and whose solos include the famous “Nessun dorma.”
Conductor: Andris Nelsons; Production: Franco Zeffirelli; Maria Guleghina, Marina Poplavskaya, Marcello Giordani, Samuel Ramey
Running time 3 hours 30 minutes /two intermissions
Saturday, 19th December, 6pm Jacques Offenbach – LES CONTES D'HOFFMAN
Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) directs this new production, returning after the triumph of his Met Barber of Seville.
Conductor:James Levine; Production:
Running time 3 hours/ two intermissions
Saturday, 9th January 2010, 6pm Richard Strauss – DER ROSENKAVALIER
Strauss’s comic masterpiece of love and intrigue in 18th-century
Conductor: James Levine; Production: Nathaniel Merrill; Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Christine Schäfer, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen, Kristinn Sigmundsson
Running time 3 hours / two intermissions
Saturday, 16th January 2010, 6pm Georges Bizet – CARMEN (NEW PRODUCTION)
One of the most popular operas of all time, Carmen “is about sex, violence, and racism—and its corollary: freedom,” says Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre about his new production of Bizet’s drama. “It is one of the inalienably great works of art. It’s sexy, in every sense. And I think it should be shocking.” Angela Gheorghiu plays the seductive gypsy of the title in her role debut, opposite Roberto Alagna as the obsessed Don José.
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Production: Richard Eyre; Barbara Frittoli, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Mariusz Kwiecien
4 hours / two intermissions
Saturday, 6th February 2010, 6pm Giuseppe Verdi – SIMON BOCCANEGRA
Four decades into a legendary Met career, tenor Plácido Domingo makes history singing the title role in Verdi’s gripping political thriller, which is written for a baritone. Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, and James Morris are his co-stars in this moving and tragic story of a father and his lost daughter. James Levine conducts.
Conductor: James Levine; Production: Giancarlo del Monaco; Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plácido Domingo, James Morris
3 hours 40 minutes / two intermissions
Saturday, 27th March, 5pm Ambroise Thomas – HAMLET
The works of Shakespeare have inspired more operatic adaptations than any other writer’s. Simon Keenlyside and Natalie Dessay bring their extraordinary acting and singing skills to two of the Bard’s most unforgettable characters in this new production of Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet. For the role of Ophelia, the French composer created an extended mad scene that is among the greatest in opera.
Conductor: Louis Langrée; Production: Patrice Caurier/Moshe Leiser; Natalie Dessay, Jennifer Larmore, Toby Spence, Simon Keenlyside, James Morris
3 hours 45 minutes / one intermission