Issue link: http://saihq.uberflip.com/i/177222
Met Live T Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera Deborah Voigt as Cassandra in Berlioz's Les Troyens. he Peabody Award-winning series Live in HD kicked off its seventh season in October. Scheduled performers in this season include two SAI Honorary Members. Check local theatres for available screenings. Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore New Production Oct. 13 | Encore: Nov. 7 Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani star in Bartlett Sher's new production of one of the greatest comic gems in opera, as the fickle Adina and her besotted Nemorino. Mariusz Kwiecien is the blustery sergeant Belcore, and Ambrogio Maestri is Dulcamara, the loveable quack and dispenser of the elixir. Maurizio Benini conducts. Verdi's Otello Oct. 27 | Encore: Nov. 14 Verdi's Shakespearean masterpiece returns to the Met with Johan Botha in the title role opposite the acclaimed Desdemona of star soprano and SAI Honorary Member Renée Fleming. Semyon Bychkov conducts. Adès's The Tempest Met Premiere Nov. 10 | Encore: Nov. 28 Composer Thomas Adès conducts the Metropolitan Opera premiere of his own work, with baritone Simon Keenlyside starring as Prospero. Director Robert Lepage recreates the interior of 18th-century La Scala in this inventive staging. Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito Dec.1 | Encore: Dec. 19 The virtuosic Elīna Garanča sings Sesto in Mozart's drama set in ancient Rome. Giuseppe Filianoti is the noble Tito and Barbara Frittoli is Vitellia, in this handsome revival of one of the composer's final masterpieces. Harry Bicket conducts. Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera New Production Dec. 8 | Encore: Jan. 9, 2013 Director David Alden's dreamlike setting provides a compelling backdrop for this dramatic story of jealousy and vengeance. Marcelo Álvarez stars as the conflicted king; Sondra Radvanovsky is Amelia, the object of his secret passion; and Dmitri Hvorostovsky is her suspicious husband. Kathleen Kim is Oscar, and Stephanie Blythe sings the role of Ulrica. Fabio Luisi conducts. Verdi's Aida Dec. 15 | Encore: Jan. 16 The Met's unforgettable production of Verdi's ancient Egyptian drama stars Liudmyla Monastyrska as the enslaved Ethiopian princess caught in a love triangle with the heroic Radamès, played by Roberto Alagna, and the proud Egyptian princess Amneris, sung by Olga Borodina. Fabio Luisi conducts. Berlioz's Les Troyens Jan. 5 | Encore: Jan. 23 The Met offers a rare opportunity to witness Berlioz's vast epic, last performed at the Met in 2003. SAI Honorary Member Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, and Dwayne Croft lead the starry cast, portraying characters from the Trojan War. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi marshals the large-scale musical forces. Donizetti's Maria Stuarda Met Premiere Jan. 19 | Encore: Feb. 6 Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world's most exciting singers, takes on the virtuosic bel canto role of the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Director David McVicar turns to the second opera of Donizetti's Tudor trilogy, which explores regal characters at fateful moments of their lives. Elza van den Heever sings Elizabeth I, and Maurizio Benini conducts. Verdi's Rigoletto New Production Feb. 16 | Encore: March 6 Director Michael Mayer has placed his new production of Verdi's towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960. In this production, inspired by the antics of the Rat Pack, Piotr Beczala is the womanizing Duke of Mantua, Željko Lucic is his tragic sidekick, Rigoletto, and Diana Damrau is Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda. Wagner's Parsifal New Production March 2 | Encore: March 20 Jonas Kaufmann stars in the title role of the innocent who finds wisdom in François Girard's new vision for Wagner's final masterpiece. His fellow Wagnerian luminaries include Katarina Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry, Peter Mattei as the ailing Amfortas, Evgeny Nikitin as the wicked Klingsor, and René Pape as the noble knight Gurnemanz. Daniele Gatti conducts. Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini March 16 | Encore: April 3 Zandonai's compelling opera, inspired by an episode from Dante's Inferno, returns in the Met's ravishingly beautiful production, last seen in 1986. Dramatic soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek and tenor Marcello Giordani are the doomed lovers. Marco Armiliato conducts. Handel's Giulio Cesare New Production April 27 | Encore: May 15 The opera that conquered London in Handel's time comes to the Met in David McVicar's lively production. The world's leading countertenor, David Daniels, sings the title role opposite Natalie Dessay as an irresistibly exotic Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts. — metoperafamily.org sai-national.org SUMMER 2012 PAN PIPES 17