Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida opens the seventh season of the CCP Met Opera in HD, special screenings of the latest operatic productions of the Metropolitan Opera in New York through high definition digital technology, on March 10.
Set in ancient Egypt, the four-act drama brings to life the love triangle between a warrior, an Ethiopian slave and a princess. Warrior Radamès falls in love with Aida, the Ethiopian slave of Princess Amneris, the king’s daughter. Unbeknownst, the princess has feelings for the warrior. When the three meet, Amneris jealously senses Radames› feelings for Aida. An opera about imperial duty and forbidden love, sung in Italian.
Music by Giuseppe Verdi, with libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, soprano Anna Netrebko sings Aida, going toe-to-toe with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris and tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko as Radamès. Maestro Nicola Luisotti takes the podium.
Composer Camille Saint-Saëns’s operatic take on the classic story of Samson and Delilah takes the cinema stage on April 21. Biblical epic Samson et Dalila stars tenor Roberto Alagna as the heroic Samson who ultimately falls victim to the seductive power of Dalila, portrayed by mezzo-soprano ElÄ«na GaranÄa. Bass-baritone Laurent Naouri sings the sinister High Priest of Dagon. Completing the cast are baritone Elchin Azizov as the Philistine king Abimélech and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as the Old Hebrew.
Darko Tresnjak, the Tony Award–winning director of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, made his debut directing the new Met production of the opera in 20 years. Sir Mark Elder conducts.
Catch Giuseppe Verdi›s La Traviata, a tale about a Parisian courtesan who sacrifices all for love, on May 12. In his first Live in HD appearance as the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s richly textured new production, featuring a dazzling 18th-century setting that changes with the seasons.
Soprano Diana Damrau plays the tragic heroine, Violetta, and tenor Juan Diego Flórez returns to the Met for the first time in five seasons to sing Alfredo, Violetta’s hapless lover. Baritone Quinn Kelsey is Alfredo’s father, Germont, who destroys their love.
The CCP Met Opera in HD series is presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation Inc., in cooperation with the Ayala Malls Cinemas.
All screenings will be held at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 1, at 6:30 p.m.. Tickets are priced at P450. Season subscription will be P2,400 for six shows.
For more information and show lineup, call the CCP Film, Broadcast and New Media Division at 8832-1125, local 1702 & 1705. Or visit the CCP social media accounts and website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph).