In this 11th year, over ten nights performances from the Met’s Live in HD series will be shown starting with a screening of FUNNY FACE in a special co-presentation with Film at Lincoln Center. Screenings run from August 23 through September 2. There will be 3000 seats in the Plaza in front of the Opera House with an additional standing room area. Cancellations due to thunder/lighting or high wind will not be rescheduled.
DEATH IN VENICE:Britten
Atherton; Rolfe Johnson, Allen, Gall, von Aroldingen,
Original Air Date: 02/26/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19430102
The production, shared with Covent Garden in London, where it was presented in 1992, is by the same English team that first staged the opera, in 1973 at the Maltings, near Britten’s home in Suffolk, and later at Covent Garden and the Met: Colin Graham, director; John Piper (who has since died), set designer, and Charles Knode, costume designer. Yet this is no revival. In fact, the old production no longer exists; the original sets were destroyed by fire, and the costumes are in rags. Mr. Graham sets the opera in a black box, like the inside of a camera whose iris opens to reveal images inside Aschenbach’s mind. A hanging gloom of black velour pervades the stage. Images are projected on a central screen and, to stress the theme of fragmentation, deconstructed into abstract parts on side screens framed by reflective pillars. In recreating the costumes from Mr. Knode’s original sketches, Hilary Philpot of Covent Garden eliminated the many stylistic references to the 70’s that had crept in, along with the use of synthetic fabrics. Most of the singers have only one costume, and the Edwardian suits, for men and women, are made with couture perfection of linen, silk or cotton in off-white or pale colors that can be bleached out by the lights. They are transformed by multiple accessories, including more than 80 hats that are pure fantasies of the millinery profession, many in a kind of diaphanous lampshade parchment. The most important costume of all, Aschenbach’s suit, was originally made of a beige linen that is no longer manufactured. Tadzio’s mother is dressed in green rather than the former grays and blues, though her hat retains the famous plumes. (from NYTIMES Feb. 6, 1994) Both Met revivals, the original with Peter Pears from 1974 and this 1994 revival are available in MOoD.
DEATH IN VENICE:Britten
Atherton; Rolfe Johnson, Allen, Gall, von Aroldingen,
Original Air Date: 02/26/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19430529
The production, shared with Covent Garden in London, where it was presented in 1992, is by the same English team that first staged the opera, in 1973 at the Maltings, near Britten’s home in Suffolk, and later at Covent Garden and the Met: Colin Graham, director; John Piper (who has since died), set designer, and Charles Knode, costume designer. Yet this is no revival. In fact, the old production no longer exists; the original sets were destroyed by fire, and the costumes are in rags. Mr. Graham sets the opera in a black box, like the inside of a camera whose iris opens to reveal images inside Aschenbach’s mind. A hanging gloom of black velour pervades the stage. Images are projected on a central screen and, to stress the theme of fragmentation, deconstructed into abstract parts on side screens framed by reflective pillars. In recreating the costumes from Mr. Knode’s original sketches, Hilary Philpot of Covent Garden eliminated the many stylistic references to the 70’s that had crept in, along with the use of synthetic fabrics. Most of the singers have only one costume, and the Edwardian suits, for men and women, are made with couture perfection of linen, silk or cotton in off-white or pale colors that can be bleached out by the lights. They are transformed by multiple accessories, including more than 80 hats that are pure fantasies of the millinery profession, many in a kind of diaphanous lampshade parchment. The most important costume of all, Aschenbach’s suit, was originally made of a beige linen that is no longer manufactured. Tadzio’s mother is dressed in green rather than the former grays and blues, though her hat retains the famous plumes. (from NYTIMES Feb. 6, 1994) Both Met revivals, the original with Peter Pears from 1974 and this 1994 revival are available in MOoD.
DEATH IN VENICE:Britten
Atherton; Rolfe Johnson, Allen, Gall, von Aroldingen,
Original Air Date: 02/26/1994
MOD Audio
SID.19430749
The production, shared with Covent Garden in London, where it was presented in 1992, is by the same English team that first staged the opera, in 1973 at the Maltings, near Britten’s home in Suffolk, and later at Covent Garden and the Met: Colin Graham, director; John Piper (who has since died), set designer, and Charles Knode, costume designer. Yet this is no revival. In fact, the old production no longer exists; the original sets were destroyed by fire, and the costumes are in rags. Mr. Graham sets the opera in a black box, like the inside of a camera whose iris opens to reveal images inside Aschenbach’s mind. A hanging gloom of black velour pervades the stage. Images are projected on a central screen and, to stress the theme of fragmentation, deconstructed into abstract parts on side screens framed by reflective pillars. In recreating the costumes from Mr. Knode’s original sketches, Hilary Philpot of Covent Garden eliminated the many stylistic references to the 70’s that had crept in, along with the use of synthetic fabrics. Most of the singers have only one costume, and the Edwardian suits, for men and women, are made with couture perfection of linen, silk or cotton in off-white or pale colors that can be bleached out by the lights. They are transformed by multiple accessories, including more than 80 hats that are pure fantasies of the millinery profession, many in a kind of diaphanous lampshade parchment. The most important costume of all, Aschenbach’s suit, was originally made of a beige linen that is no longer manufactured. Tadzio’s mother is dressed in green rather than the former grays and blues, though her hat retains the famous plumes. (from NYTIMES Feb. 6, 1994) Both Met revivals, the original with Peter Pears from 1974 and this 1994 revival are available in MOoD.
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO:Mozart
Levine; Raimondi, Battle, Vaness, Allen, von Stade
Original Air Date: 12/14/1985
MOD VideoMOD Audio
SID.20030210
This performance surfaced in its video format both on MOoD, and in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box. This is a Ponnelle production, and has its usual pluses and minuses. Vaness misses just a bit of superstar quality (her Fiordiligi and Donna Anna are more distinctive). Raimondi is not my favorite singer, but Levine is at his best in Mozart and the ensemble is very strong. I’ve enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this performance over the last year and have played it several times. This is his first season of Figaro at the Met, an opera he would conduct more than 77 times in 3 new productions (Ponnelle, Jonathan Miller, Richard Eyre.). Amazingly 3 of the matinee broadcasts have not been done again. For the record: March 21, 1992 features Upshaw , Schuman, Von Stade, Furlanetto, Hampson, Moll December 5, 1998 features Bonney/Guyer, Lott, Mentzer, Croft, Terfel Feb. 12, 2005 features Rost, Watson, Perez, Relyea, Kwiecien. One run of Nozze with Levine was not broadcast and that featured Dorothea Roschmann and Anja Harteros in their Met debuts. I remember these performances very well, and in the current Gelb/Sirius era, we would have had at least one if not a couple of these on the radio, The 1992 would be especially welcome for the Furlanetto/Hampson combination (which is also on their complete DG recording).
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO:Mozart
Levine; Raimondi, Battle, Vaness, Allen, von Stade
Original Air Date: 12/14/1985
MOD VideoMOD Audio
SID.20030426
This performance surfaced in its video format both on MOoD, and in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box. This is a Ponnelle production, and has its usual pluses and minuses. Vaness misses just a bit of superstar quality (her Fiordiligi and Donna Anna are more distinctive). Raimondi is not my favorite singer, but Levine is at his best in Mozart and the ensemble is very strong. I’ve enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this performance over the last year and have played it several times. This is his first season of Figaro at the Met, an opera he would conduct more than 77 times in 3 new productions (Ponnelle, Jonathan Miller, Richard Eyre.). Amazingly 3 of the matinee broadcasts have not been done again. For the record: March 21, 1992 features Upshaw , Schuman, Von Stade, Furlanetto, Hampson, Moll December 5, 1998 features Bonney/Guyer, Lott, Mentzer, Croft, Terfel Feb. 12, 2005 features Rost, Watson, Perez, Relyea, Kwiecien. One run of Nozze with Levine was not broadcast and that featured Dorothea Roschmann and Anja Harteros in their Met debuts. I remember these performances very well, and in the current Gelb/Sirius era, we would have had at least one if not a couple of these on the radio, The 1992 would be especially welcome for the Furlanetto/Hampson combination (which is also on their complete DG recording).
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO:Mozart
Levine; Raimondi, Battle, Vaness, Allen, von Stade
Original Air Date: 12/14/1985
MOD VideoMOD Audio
SID.20030640
This performance surfaced in its video format both on MOoD, and in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box. This is a Ponnelle production, and has its usual pluses and minuses. Vaness misses just a bit of superstar quality (her Fiordiligi and Donna Anna are more distinctive). Raimondi is not my favorite singer, but Levine is at his best in Mozart and the ensemble is very strong. I’ve enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this performance over the last year and have played it several times. This is his first season of Figaro at the Met, an opera he would conduct more than 77 times in 3 new productions (Ponnelle, Jonathan Miller, Richard Eyre.). Amazingly 3 of the matinee broadcasts have not been done again. For the record: March 21, 1992 features Upshaw , Schuman, Von Stade, Furlanetto, Hampson, Moll December 5, 1998 features Bonney/Guyer, Lott, Mentzer, Croft, Terfel Feb. 12, 2005 features Rost, Watson, Perez, Relyea, Kwiecien. One run of Nozze with Levine was not broadcast and that featured Dorothea Roschmann and Anja Harteros in their Met debuts. I remember these performances very well, and in the current Gelb/Sirius era, we would have had at least one if not a couple of these on the radio, The 1992 would be especially welcome for the Furlanetto/Hampson combination (which is also on their complete DG recording).