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onstage wordlwide Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera From left, Isabel Leonard as Dorabella, Danielle de Niese as Despina, and Susanna Phillips as Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte. Met HD Series Begins Eighth Season T he Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will reach its widest-ever global audience in its eighth season, which began Oct. 5 with a new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Met Music Director James Levine makes his highly-anticipated return to the screen with Verdi's Falstaff on Dec. 14 and the first Live in HD performance of Mozart's Così fan tutte on April 26. The Live in HD series, the world's largest provider of alternative content, reaches more than 1,900 theaters in 64 countries, and offers subtitles in nine languages, including Swedish for the first time this season. To accommodate audience demand in Europe, more than 85 cinemas have been added to the HD network in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.  The geographical breakdown of the number 12 PAN PIPES Fall 2013 sai-national.org of theaters worldwide includes 748 in the U.S (with 653 theaters through National CineMedia); 167 in Germany; 112 in Canada; 91 in France; 175 in the United Kingdom (an increase of more than 45 theaters from last season); and 152 in Sweden (also an increase of more than 30 theaters).  "We are happy to once again serve up an exciting mix of operas and opera stars to our loyal audiences watching live from Vancouver to Moscow, and on a delayed basis in Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand," said Peter Gelb, the Met's General Manager and Executive Producer of the transmissions. "While the world may roil, operatically it is in harmony on our live transmission days." SAI Honorary Members Renée Fleming and Deborah Voigt, Sondra Radvanovsky, Patricia Racette, Susan Graham, Eric Owens, Joyce DiDonato, and will serve as hosts for the Live in HD presentations this season, conducting live interviews with cast, crew, and production teams, and introducing the popular behind-the-scenes interviews and features. All 10 high-definition productions will be shown live worldwide on Saturdays. Most operas begin at 12:55 p.m. EST, with some operas beginning earlier in the afternoon; exact starting times appear on the schedule below.  The majority of encore presentations in the United States will be shown on Wednesdays evenings, immediately following the live transmission. The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg. Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. The HD broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers.

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