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NEW YORK (AFX) - The Metropolitan Opera will transmit six live performances to movie theaters and will broadcast more than 100 live performances over the Internet or on digital radio in a groundbreaking attempt to expand its audience, the company announced Wednesday.
The high definition satellite simulcasts to hundreds of movie theaters in North America and Europe will begin Dec. 30 with Julie Taymor's English language adaptation of Mozart's "Magic Flute" under the baton of James Levine, the company said.
Other productions scheduled for simulcast are "I Puritani," starring soprano Ann Netrebko (Jan. 6); the Jan. 13 world premiere of Tan Dun's "The First Emperor" with Placido Domingo in the title role; "Eugene Onegin," starring Renee Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky and conducted by Valerie Gergiev (Feb. 24); the new production of "The Barber of Seville" with Juan Diego Florez (March 24); and the new production of "Il Trittico," conducted by Levine and directed by Jack O'Brien (April 28).
These productions will be broadcast later on PBS-TV via conventional and high definition formats.
"The unions have kindly granted us control over the creation and distribution of our electronic content," Peter Gelb, the Met's new general manager, said in a statement. "This is a unique opportunity to raise our profile and grow our audience. Opera will now enter the digital era." Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
Copyright 2006 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
