Exciting summer events at the Metropolitan Opera, NYC
The 2019 summer season at the Met Opera is full of bright events.
2019 Summer Recital Series
The Met’s popular concert series in New York City parks in all five boroughs kicked off in June, at SummerStage in Central Park, with an evening of arias and duets from a variety of operas. The first two recitals feature audience favorites baritone Nathan Gunn, tenor Ben Bliss, and soprano Ying Fang, accompanied on piano by Dan Saunders. The four subsequent recitals showcase three exciting young artists—soprano Leah Hawkins, tenor Mario Bahg, and baritone Joseph Lim—with Dimitri Dover on piano.
Live in HD Summer Encores
The Metropolitan Opera presents four Summer Encores featuring select performances from the groundbreaking Live in HD series: Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Puccini’s La Bohème, Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Verdi’s Aida.
Roméo et Juliette
Soprano Diana Damrau and tenor Vittorio Grigolo star as Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers in Bartlett Sher’s romantic staging.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Bartlett Sher’s madcap take on Rossini’s comedy features a stellar cast, including mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, and baritone Peter Mattei.
La Bohème
Soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Vittorio Grigolo are the young bohemians in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic production of Puccini’s ever-popular masterpiece.
Aida
Soprano Anna Netrebko sings the compelling title role of Verdi’s monumental grand opera, alongside mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as her rival, Amneris.
2019 Summer HD Festival
The 11th Summer HD Festival features 11 thrilling performances from the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions—plus a special pre-festival screening of Stanley Donen’s enchanting Funny Face, featuring songs by George and Ira Gershwin, a co-presentation with Film at Lincoln Center. The showings run from August 23 through September 2, with approximately 3,000 seats set up in front of the opera house each night, as well as additional standing room around Lincoln Center Plaza.
Funny Face
A delightful and heartfelt classic from the Golden Age of Hollywood, Funny Face has all of the hallmarks of a great American movie musical and stars screen legends Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. Inspired by an unproduced musical by Leonard Gershe—itself loosely based on the life of famed photographer Richard Avedon—the 1957 film includes a number of beloved tunes by George and Ira Gershwin, including “’S wonderful” and “Let’s Kiss and Make Up.” A co-presentation of Film at Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera
Aida Verdi
Superstar soprano Anna Netrebko thrills in the title role of Verdi’s ancient Egyptian epic, going toe to toe with powerhouse mezzosoprano Anita Rachvelishvili as her royal rival.
Carmen Bizet
Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the most popular transmission in Live in HD history, which stars Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna as the embattled lovers Carmen and Don José.
Das Rheingold Wagner
Robert Lepage’s innovative staging conjures a world of myth and majesty for the first installment of Wagner’s towering Ring cycle.
Dialogues des Carmélites Poulenc
Poulenc’s harrowing modern masterpiece features a compelling ensemble, headlined by Isabel Leonard as Blanche and Karita Mattila as Madame de Croissy.
Samson et Dalila Saint-Saëns
Tony Award–winning director Darko Tresnjak’s vivid staging features Roberto Alagna and Elīna Garanča in the title roles of Saint-Saëns’s sweeping biblical adaptation.
Cendrillon Massenet
Massenet’s effervescent take on the classic Cinderella story stars Joyce DiDonato as the title character, in a delightfully zany production by Laurent Pelly.
La Fanciulla del West Puccini
Eva-Maria Westbroek is the fearless heroine of Puccini’s romance of the Wild West, opposite tenor Jonas Kaufmann as an outlaw hoping for redemption.
La Fille du Régiment Donizetti
Bel canto specialists Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena serve up one show-stopping vocal display after another in Donizetti’s exuberant romantic comedy.
Luisa Miller Verdi
Verdi’s early drama of love and intrigue stars Sonya Yoncheva in the poignant title role, alongside the incomparable Plácido Domingo as her devoted father and Piotr Beczała as her lover, Rodolfo.
Adriana Lecouvreur Cilea
Cilea’s melodrama of 18th-century France receives a sumptuous staging with Anna Netrebko in the title role of the legendary real-life diva, alongside Anita Rachvelishvili and Piotr Beczała.
