CINEMA Nouveau presents the new 2015/16 Metropolitan Opera Season, including six new productions. The much-anticipated 2015/16 Live in HD season from the Metropolitan Opera in New York returns to South Africa, and will be screened exclusively at Cinema Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor theatres.
In celebration of 10 years of The Met: Live in HD being screened on cinemas around the world, the new season presents 10 opulent, full-length operas, including six new productions, and a special encore.

In addition to the production, lovers of opera are invited behind the scenes with the Met’s stars. Singers serve as hosts for the HD series, conducting live interviews with cast and crew members as well as the production teams.

They introduce the popular behind-the-scenes features during the intermissions, giving cinema audiences an unprecedented look at what goes into staging an opera at one of the world’s greatest houses.

The series has become a global phenomenon with more than 18 million tickets sold since its inception 10 years ago.

These grand operas, filmed at the iconic Metropolitan Opera House, feature some of the world’s most talented singers, conductors, composers, orchestra musicians, stage directors, designers, visual artists, choreographers and dancers.

The new season opened at Gateway’s Cinema Nouveau with Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore, with star soprano Anna Netrebko as Leonora, following her triumph as Lady Macbeth in the last season. Her dramatic and vocal skills are on full display as the Verdi heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of a gypsy troubadour.

Tenor Yonghoon Lee sings the ill-fated Manrico, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is his rival, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick is the mysterious gypsy with the troubled past. Marco Armiliato conducts Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired production. Approximate running time is three hours, 10 minutes.

Tickets are limited, so make a booking for this production as soon as possible.

The next transmission will be another Verdi favourite, Otello, which releases for limited screenings from November 14.

Inspired by Shakespeare’s play and matching it in tragic intensity, this production is directed by Bartlett Sher, who probes the Moor’s dramatic downfall with an outstanding cast. Dynamic maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Approximate running time: three hours, 30 minutes.

The Met’s music director, James Levine, conducts the third opera of the season on ­November 28: Wagner’s early masterpiece, Tannhäuser. It stars leading Wagnerian tenor, South African-born Johan Botha, in the title role of the young knight caught between love and passion.

Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth, Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, and Michelle De­Young is the love goddess, Venus. Approximate running time: four hours, 35 minutes.

For booking information on The Met: Live in HD season, visit http://www.cinemanouveau.co.za or http://www.sterkinekor.com
Download the Ster-Kinekor App, follow @nouveaubuzz on Twitter and Cinema ­Nouveau on Facebook or call Ticketline at 0861 Movies (668 437)