SIRIUS' live broadcast of the Met's Opening Night Gala on Monday, September 22, will star Renee Fleming
The third season of Met Opera Radio on SIRIUS will feature 127 performances broadcast live from the opera house stage
NEW YORK, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio (SIRI) today announced it will broadcast its third season live from the Metropolitan Opera beginning with Opening Night on Monday, September 22 and will include 127 live performances during the Met's 2008-2009 season.
(LOGO: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991118/NYTH125 )
The season will start with the Met's Opening Night Gala on Monday, September 22, on Metropolitan Opera Radio SIRIUS channel 78. Coverage of opening night will begin with an overview of the evening's red carpet events, backstage interviews and a season preview starting at 6 pm ET. Met Opera Radio's Opening Night Gala will star Renee Fleming performing in some of her most acclaimed roles, beginning with Act II of Verdi's La Traviata, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine, and continuing with Act III of Massenet's Manon, conducted by Marco Armiliato, and the final scene of Richard Strauss's one act opera, Capriccio, conducted by Patrick Summers.
Highlights of the Met Opera Radio 2008-09 schedule include every season premiere and all six of the Met's new productions: the Met premiere of John Adams's opera about the creation of the atomic bomb, Doctor Atomic; Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust; Massenet's Thais; Puccini's La Rondine; Verdi's Il Trovatore; and Bellini's La Sonnambula. Host Margaret Juntwait along with Will Berger will return to the Met Opera Radio channel.
In addition to its third season of broadcasting performances live from the Met, Met Opera Radio will air a salute to Placido Domingo's 40th year with the Met. The Domingo Festival on Met Opera Radio will feature a special four-day salute to the great Spanish tenor, including six archival Met broadcasts selected from the long span of his career, including Les Contes d'Hoffmann (1982), Otello (1988), The Queen of Spades (2004), and the SIRIUS premieres of the broadcast of Lohengrin (1985) and Il Trovatore (1975). The salute to Placido Domingo will begin Thursday, September 25 starting at 9 pm ET
Metropolitan Opera Radio broadcasts an unprecedented number of live Metropolitan Opera performances each week throughout the Met's entire season, as well as the largest collection of live recordings, newly restored and re-mastered, from the Met's 77-year broadcast history. The 24/7 channel features an average of four live broadcasts each week throughout the Met's performance season enhanced with live interviews and dynamic intermission programs in addition to Saturday matinee performances.
A schedule of this season's Metropolitan Opera Radio broadcasts on SIRIUS is available at www.sirius.com/metropolitanoperaradio.
For more information about the Metropolitan Opera, please visit www.metopera.org
About the Met
Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company's repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2008-09 season pays tribute to the company's extraordinary history on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, while also emphasizing the Met's renewed commitment to advancing the art form.
