New Season of “Met: Live” Metropolitan Opera Simulcasts in Hahn Hall

The Music Academy of the West has begun its season of high-definition screenings from ten Metropolitan Opera productions screening simulcasts in Hahn Hall, with Eugene Onegin,  which will screen again at 2 pm on Sunday, October 27.

According to a release from the Music Academy, “since its Moscow premiere in 1879, Tchaikovsky’s fateful romance based on Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel of the same name has endeared itself to opera lovers the world over. Conducted by Russian maestro Valery Gergiev and directed by Fiona Shaw, Deborah Warner’s new production stars soprano standout Anna Netrebko—opening her third consecutive Met season—in her company role debut as Tatiana, the naïve, love-struck heroine. Mariusz Kwiecien portrays the imperious title character, in a much-admired interpretation he has sung in many of the world’s leading opera houses, and Piotr Beczala reprises his acclaimed performance as Onegin’s friend-turned-rival, Lenski. Set in the late 19th century and capturing the splendor and passion of Tchaikovsky’s lyric opera, Warner’s production moves episodically from farmhouse to ballroom, with a powerful snowstorm providing the dramatic setting for the finale.”


The 2013-14 season of “Met: Live in HD” screenings at Hahn Hall will continue with Shostakovich’s The Nose (October 26 and November 24), Puccini’s Tosca (November 23 and December 15), Verdi’s Falstaff (December 14 and February 9), Dvořák’s Rusalka (February 8 and March 2), Borodin’s Prince Igor (March 1 and 16), Massenet’s Werther (March 15 and April 6), Puccini’s La Bohème (April 5 and 27), Mozart’s Così fan tutte starring Music Academy alumnae Isabel Leonard (’05) and Susanna Phillips (’02 and ’03) – (April 26 and May 11), and Rossini’s La cenerentola – starring Academy alumnus Juan Diego Flórez (’95) – (May 10 and 18).
Unlike previous seasons, the Music Academy will screen encores on Sunday afternoons following each subsequent opera’s live Saturday simulcast. Complete “Live in HD” schedule information is available online at www.musicacademy.org.Single tickets may be ordered online at musicacademy.org or by calling 805/969-8787.  Free parking is available on the Music Academy campus.
Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS Magazine.