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Metropolitan Opera broadcasts to digital theaters
posted by
danpetitpas
on
September 22, 2008 at 4:56 pm
The New York Metropolitan Opera will be broadcasting 11 Live in HD video performances this season to more than 800 digital movie theaters in the US, South Amercan and Europe.
The Opening Night Gala broadcast is tonight, September 22 at 6 pm Eastern Pacific Time. (The Pacific Coast is on a tape delay, all other time periods are live.)
This is the third year of HD broadcasts to digital theaters, increasing from eight transmissions last year.
Direct-to-theater satellite broadcasts have been growing steadily as multiplex owners with digital projectors have been exploring alternative sources of revenue.
You can view a list of theaters participating in the event here and here.
Tickets range from $18-$22.
The performance schedule is as follows:
Oct. 11: “Salome"
Nov. 8: The Met premiere of John Adams' "Doctor Atomic.”
Nov. 22: Berlioz’s rarely staged “La Damnation de Faust.”
Dec. 20: Massenet’s “Thaïs” with Renée Fleming.
Jan. 10, 2009: Puccini’s “La Rondine” with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna.
Jan. 24: “Orfeo ed Euridice."
Feb 7: "Lucia di Lammermoor."
March 7: "Madama Butterfly."
March 21: And Bellini’s "La Sonnambula”* with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez.
May 9: “La Cenerentola.”
Comments (3)
Cinemas which carry the Met Opera simulcasts here in the Boston area don’t even have to advertise it – they get their patronage from opera fans who go to the Met’s website for the schedule. I know people who have attended several of these performances at the Regal Fenway in Boston and the Showcase Randolph; they pay $22 for tickets and have been very pleased. Each time that they attend, the auditorium has been full.
Same here with the Met Opera simulcasts at the AMC Neshaminy 24 Theatre in Bensalem. A lot of these operas actually sells out a good 5 to 6 months before they are seen.
I have been to a number of these, and the presentation is a class act! I wish they were shown in more theatres across the land. Many of the theatres used are suburban multiplexes, making it difficult to get to them by public transportation. I wish there were a venue within my city of Providence, such as the Providence Place Mall 16. At present someone in this area has to go to Swansea, Massachusetts or else Warwick, RI, each a good twenty minute drive from the city…if you have a car!