“The Met: Live in HD” Returns to Cinemas for Seventh Sensational Season

The Metropolitan Opera and NCM^® Fathom Events Continue Award-Winning Series in U.S. Cinemas Nationwide with12 Live Productions

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CENTENNIAL, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Emmy^® and Peabody award-winning “The Met: Live in HD” series returns to U.S. cinemas for a seventh season featuring 12 live operas from the Metropolitan Opera’s 2012-13 season. The series opens with Donizetti’s comic gem “L’Elisir d’Amore,” starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien and Ambrogio Maestri in a new production by Bartlett Sher on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 12:55 p.m. ET. Each live performance, broadcast through National CineMedia’s (NCM^®) exclusive Digital Broadcast Network, will take place on a Saturday, with evening pre-recorded encore presentations taking place the third* Wednesday after each live performance.

“With each year, the popularity of the Met’s in-cinema series continues to grow bigger and Fathom is proud to bring opera fans across the U.S. the opportunity to experience this treaure of the arts with their families and friends.”

Tickets are available at participating cinema box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of cinema locations and schedule, please visit the website (cinemas and participants are subject to change). Ticket prices vary by location.

“In addition to bringing grand opera directly from our stage into communities across the nation and around the world, our HD programs energize our performers, who know that a sizeable percentage of the global population of opera fans are watching and listening to them,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s General Manager.

Presented by The Metropolitan Opera and NCM Fathom Events, NCM’s entertainment and events division, the live transmissions of the “The Met: Live in HD” 2012-13 season will be broadcast to 167 U.S. markets in more than 660 select cinemas (the series is also shown in 100 additional independent venues nationwide). The season features Met premieres of Thomas Adès’s “The Tempest” and Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda;” five new productions including the aforementioned “L’Elisir d’Amore,” “Un Ballo in Maschera,” “Rigoletto,” “Parsifal” and “Giulio Cesare.” Other titles in the seventh season of “The Met: Live in HD” include “Otello,” “La Clemenza di Tito,” “Aida,” “Les Troyens” and “Francesca da Rimini.”

“For the seventh straight season, the splendor of ‘The Met: Live in HD’ series will continue to captivate fans as the passion and creative spirit of America’s world-reknowned opera company returns to cinemas nationwide,” said Shelly Maxwell, executive vice president of NCM Fathom Events. “With each year, the popularity of the Met’s in-cinema series continues to grow bigger and Fathom is proud to bring opera fans across the U.S. the opportunity to experience this treaure of the arts with their families and friends.”

“The Met: Live in HD” is shown in more than 1,900 cinemas in 60 countries, making the Met the only arts institution with an ongoing global art series of this scale. “The Met: Live in HD” series is made possible by a generous grant from The Neubauer Family Foundation. Global corporate sponsor of “The Met: Live in HD” is Bloomberg.

The 2012-13 “The Met: Live in HD” series planned schedule** is as follows:

Saturday, October 13, 2012 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
L'ELISIR D'AMORE (Donizetti)
Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani star in one of the greatest comic gems in opera, as the fickle Adina and her besotted Nemorino. Bartlett Sher, whose previous productions of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” “Le Comte Ory” and “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” have delighted Met audiences, guides this lively staging, where surface charm will meet with real emotion. Mariusz Kwiecien is the blustery sergeant Belcore; Ambrogio Maestri is Dulcamara, the loveable quack and dispenser of the elixir. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Wednesday, November 7 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of L'ELISIR D'AMORE
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, October 27, 2012 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
OTELLO (Verdi)
Verdi’s Shakespearean masterpiece returns to the Met with Johan Botha as the title role opposite the acclaimed Desdemona of star soprano Renée Fleming, with Falk Struckmann as Iago and Michael Fabiano as the captain Cassio. Acclaimed Russian conductor Semyon Bychkov also makes his cinematic debut.

Wednesday, November 14 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of OTELLO
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, November 10, 2012 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacifc
THE TEMPEST (Adès) – Met Premiere
British composer Thomas Adès makes his Met debut conducting the first-ever Met performances of his opera, which has been widely praised as a modern masterpiece. Director Robert Lepage recreates the interior of Milan’s famous opera house La Scala, including the hidden workings underneath the stage, where Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan, practices his otherworldly arts. The magnetic baritone Simon Keenlyside stars as Prospero, a role he has sung to great acclaim in London.

Wednesday, November 28 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of THE TEMPEST
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, December 1, 2012 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO (Mozart)
The virtuosic Elīna Garanča sings Sesto in Mozart’s drama set in ancient Rome. Giuseppe Filianoti is the noble Tito and Barbara Frittoli is Vitellia, in this handsome revival of one of the composer’s final masterpieces. Harry Bicket conducts.

Wednesday, December 19 – 6:30 p.pm local time
Encore presentation of LA CLEMENZA DI TITO
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, December 8, 2012 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
UN BALLO IN MASCHERA (Verdi)
Accompanied by a thrilling score, Verdi’s vivid characters grapple with life and love, betrayal and death. Director David Alden’s dreamlike setting provides a compelling backdrop for this dramatic story of jealousy and vengeance. Marcelo Álvarez stars as the conflicted king; Sondra Radvanovsky is Amelia, the object of his secret passion; and Dmitri Hvorostovsky is her suspicious husband. Kathleen Kim is the page Oscar, and mezzosoprano powerhouse Stephanie Blythe sings the fortuneteller Ulrica. Fabio Luisi conducts.

Wednesday, January 9 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, December 15, 2012 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
AIDA (Verdi)
The Met’s unforgettable production of Verdi’s ancient Egyptian drama stars Liudmyla Monastyrska in her Met debut in the title role of the enslaved Ethiopian princess caught in a love triangle with the heroic Radamès, played by Roberto Alagna, and the proud Egyptian princess Amneris, sung by Olga Borodina. Fabio Luisi conducts this revival, which features recent choreography by Alexei Ratmansky.

Wednesday, January 16 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of AIDA
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, January 5, 2013 – Noon Eastern / 9:00 a.m. Pacifc
LES TROYENS (Berlioz)
The Met offers a rare opportunity to witness Berlioz’s vast epic, last performed at the Met in 2003. Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham and Marcello Giordani lead the star cast. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi marshals the large-scale musical forces.

Wednesday, January 23 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LES TROYENS
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, January 19, 2013 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
MARIA STUARDA (Donizetti) – Met Premiere
Fresh from her triumph in the Met’s “The Enchanted Island,” mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, one of the world’s most exciting singers, takes on the virtuosic bel canto role of the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. Having scored a major success with his production of “Anna Bolena,” director David McVicar now turns to the second opera of Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy, which explores regal characters at fateful moments of their lives. Elza van den Heever sings Elizabeth I, and Maurizio Benini conducts.

Wednesday, February 6 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of MARIA STUARDA
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, February 16, 2013 – 12:55 p.m. Eastern / 9:55 a.m. Pacific
RIGOLETTO (Verdi)
Director Michael Mayer has placed his new production of Verdi’s towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960—an ideal setting for this eternal conflict of depravity and innocence. In this production, inspired by the antics of the Rat Pack, Piotr Beczala is the womanizing Duke of Mantua, with Željko Lucic as his tragic sidekick, Rigoletto. Diana Damrau is Rigoletto’s daughter—and their victim. Michele Mariotti conducts.

Wednesday, March 6 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of RIGOLETTO
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, March 2, 2013 – Noon Eastern / 9:00 a.m. Pacific
PARSIFAL (Wagner)
Director François Girard’s timeless new vision for Wagner’s final masterpiece explores the many facets of this mystical score, while designer Michael Levine (“Eugene Onegin”) creates a surreal landscape. Jonas Kaufmann stars in the title role of the innocent who finds wisdom. His fellow Wagnerian luminaries include Katarina Dalayman as the mysterious Kundry, Peter Mattei as the ailing Amfortas and René Pape as the noble knight Gurnemanz. Daniele Gatti conducts.

Wednesday, March 20 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of PARSIFAL
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, March 16, 2013 – Noon Eastern / 9:00 a.m. Pacific
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI (Zandonai)
Zandonai’s compelling opera, inspired by an episode from Dante’s Inferno, returns in the Met’s ravishingly beautiful production, last seen in 1986. Dramatic soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek and tenor Marcello Giordani are the doomed lovers. Marco Armiliato conducts.

Wednesday, April 3 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of FRANCESCA DA RIMINI
(Available in select cinemas only)

Saturday, April 27, 2013 – Noon Eastern / 9:00 a.m. Pacific
GIULIO CESARE (Handel)
David McVicar’s inventive production of Handel’s Baroque classic comes to the Met for the first time, with major stars as Caesar and Cleopatra. The world’s leading countertenor, David Daniels, sings the title role of Julius Caesar opposite Natalie Dessay as an irresistibly exotic Cleopatra. Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.

Wednesday, May 15 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of GIULIO CESARE
(Available in select cinemas only)

*Encores for “L’Elisir d’Amore,” “Un Ballo in Maschera,” and “Aida” are scheduled four and five weeks following the live broadcast due to the holidays.

**Programs and casting subject to change. For more details on the operas, please visit the Met’s website at www.metopera.org/hdlive

About National CineMedia (NCM)

NCM operates NCM Media Networks, a leading integrated media company reaching U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology. The NCM Cinema Network and NCM Fathom Events present cinema advertising and events across the nation’s largest digital in-theater network, comprised of theaters owned by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) and other leading regional theater circuits. NCM’s theater advertising network covers 181 Designated Market Areas® (49 of the top 50) and includes over 19,000 screens (over 18,100 digital). During 2011, approximately 680 million patrons (on an annualized basis) attended movies shown in theaters in which NCM currently has exclusive, cinema advertising agreements in place. The NCM Fathom Events live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is comprised of over 700 locations in 170 Designated Market Areas® (including all of the top 50). The NCM Interactive Network offers 360-degree integrated marketing opportunities in combination with cinema, encompassing 42 entertainment-related websites, online widgets and mobile applications. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 48.6% interest in and is the managing member of National CineMedia LLC. For more information, visit www.ncm.com or www.FathomEvents.com.

About the Metropolitan Opera

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. For more information about the Metropolitan Opera, please visit www.metopera.org.

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