Laemmle Theatres has partnered with Fathom Events to bring you the Met Opera’s award winning Live in HD series. The 2017-18 season begins on October 7 with the company’s new production of Bellini’s Norma. Experience ten incomparable performances broadcast live from the stage of the Met, including five new productions, two of which are Met premieres.
Each event is broadcast live on Saturday mornings at 9:55 am. In addition to the opera presentations, audiences will go behind the scenes with the leading artists that make the Met one of the most renowned opera houses in the world. Backstage access includes special interviews with cast and crew and other features exclusive to the Live in HD series.
Tickets for The Met: Live in HD 2017-18 at Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, Town Center 5 in Encino, Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, and Claremont 5 in Claremont can be purchased online now by visiting www.laemmle.com/metoperaHD.
NORMA (Bellini) – New production
Saturday, October 7, 2017 – 9:55 a.m.
This new production of Bellini’s masterpiece stars Sondra Radvanovsky as the Druid priestess and Joyce DiDonato as her rival, Adalgisa—a casting coup for bel canto fans. Tenor Joseph Calleja is Pollione, Norma’s unfaithful lover, and Carlo Rizzi conducts. Sir David McVicar’s evocative production sets the action deep in a Druid forest where nature and ancient ritual rule.
DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (Mozart)
Saturday, October 14, 2017 – 9:55 a.m.
Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts the full-length, German version of Mozart’s magical fable, seen in Julie Taymor’s spectacular production, which captures both the opera’s earthy comedy and its noble mysticism.
THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (Thomas Adès) – Met premiere
Saturday, November 18, 2017 – 9:55 a.m.
The Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera.
TOSCA (Puccini) – New production
Saturday, January 27, 2018 – 9:55 a.m.
Rivaling the splendor of Franco Zeffirelli’s Napoleonic-era sets and costumes, Sir David McVicar’s ravishing new production offers a splendid backdrop for extraordinary singing. Sonya Yoncheva will make her role debut as the title prima donna alongside Vittorio Grigolo and Bryn Terfel. Andris Nelsons conducts.
L’ELISIR D’AMORE (Donizetti)
Saturday, February 10, 2018 – 9:00 a.m.
Pretty Yende debuts a new role at the Met as the feisty Adina, opposite Matthew Polenzani, who enthralled Met audiences as Nemorino in 2013 with his ravishing “Una furtiva lagrima.” Bartlett Sher’s production is charming, with deft comedic timing, but also emotionally revealing. Domingo Hindoyan conducts.
LA BOHÈME (Puccini)
Saturday, February 24, 2018 – 9:30 a.m.
The world’s most popular opera returns in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production starring a cast of young stars, including Sonya Yoncheva as the fragile Mimì and Michael Fabiano as the poet Rodolfo. Marco Armiliato conducts.
SEMIRAMIDE (Rossini) – First time in HD
Saturday, March 10, 2018 – 9:55 a.m.
This masterpiece of dazzling vocal fireworks makes a rare Met appearance—its first in nearly 25 years—with Maurizio Benini on the podium. The all-star bel canto cast features Angela Meade in the title role of the murderous Queen of Babylon, who squares off in breathtaking duets with Arsace, a trouser role sung by Elizabeth DeShong. Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green complete the stellar cast.
COSI FAN TUTTE (Mozart) – New production
Saturday, March 31, 2018 – 9:55 a.m.
A winning cast comes together for Phelim McDermott’s clever vision of Mozart’s comedy about the sexes, set in a carnival-esque environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island. Manipulating the action are the Don Alfonso of Christopher Maltman and the Despina of Tony Award–winner Kelli O’Hara, with Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Ben Bliss, and Adam Plachetka as the pairs of young lovers who test each other’s faithfulness. David Robertson conducts.
LUISA MILLER (Verdi) – First time in HD
Saturday, April 14, 2018 – 9:30 a.m.
James Levine and Plácido Domingo add yet another chapter to their legendary Met collaboration with this rarely performed Verdi gem, a heart-wrenching tragedy of fatherly love. Sonya Yoncheva sings the title role opposite Piotr Beczała in the first Met performances of the opera in more than ten years.
CENDRILLON (Massenet) – Met premiere
Saturday, April 28, 2018 – 9:55 a.m.
For the first time ever, Massenet’s sumptuous take on the Cinderella story comes to the Met. Joyce DiDonato stars in the title role, with mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in the trouser role of Prince Charming, Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother, and Stephanie Blythe as the imperious Madame de la Haltière. Bertrand de Billy conducts Laurent Pelly’s imaginative storybook production.