The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will increase the number of televised live performances to movie houses from 6 to 8 in their 2007/08 season. “Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD,” a series of live performance transmissions shown in high definition in movie theaters throughout North America, Europe, and Japan has been highly successful. The transmissions have grown from 60 movie theaters for the first showing to over 230, with most of the performances being sold out.
“Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD,” was launched in December of 2006. The Met has had a long history of success with its Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts. 6 operas were shown as a series of live performance transmissions in high definition in 2006/07. The series has met with overwhelming success and plays to sold-out houses, prompting many theaters to schedule encore showings.
The phenomenon has grown to such a large proportions that the February, 2007 broadcast of Eugene Onegin drew a worldwide audience of over 50,000. By the end of May, the Met estimates theses showings, “including encores and international venues, will have sold more than 500,000 tickets – 60% of the number of mainstage tickets sold in one full season at the Met.” (Metropolitan Opera) The Los Angeles Times praised the series: “The Met’s experiment of merging film with live performances has created a new art form… This venture may be the most significant development in opera since the supertitle.”
The HD screenings also are heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 with surround sound. The Metropolitan has also added live interviews and special features, which give audiences a rare look at the behind-the-scenes. In cities where the opera transmissions have been seen, local opera have actually seen an increased intrest in their own live performances.
Remaining Broadcasts for the 06/07 season include:
- The Barber of Seville – March 24
- Il Trittico – April 28, 2007
- The First Emperor (Encore Performances) - March 7 and 11 in United States; March 10 in Canada
- The Barber of Seville (Encore Presentation) May 15, 2007 (April 21, 2007 in Canada)
Next season, the broadcasts expand from six to eight operas:
- Roméo et Juliette - December 15, 2007
- Hansel and Gretel - January 1, 2008 *
- Macbeth - January 12, 2008 *
- Manon Lescaut - February 16, 2008
- Peter Grimes - March 15, 2008 *
- Tristan und Isolde - March 22, 2008
- La Bohème - April 5, 2008
- La Fille du Régiment - April 26, 2008 *
* operas that are new productions in 2007/08
