In Friday’s (8/28) New York Times, Anthony Tommasini writes about initial doubts about how the Metropolitan Opera’s live broadcasts would go over. “Now these broadcasts are seen around the world. At many movie theaters and performing-arts centers, tickets for the broadcasts are scooped up within hours of going on sale. Still, the key to the excitement over the HD broadcasts is that they are live. … Starting on Saturday night, the Met will be trying out another, more modest venture with its HD series, without the live element. The video of the Met’s acclaimed production of Donizetti’s ‘Fille du Régiment,’ starring the soprano Natalie Dessay as Marie, the tomboy raised by an army regiment in Tyrol, and the tenor Juan Diego Flórez as Tonio, the young villager who adores her, will be screened free in Lincoln Center Plaza. This inaugurates the Met’s Summer HD Festival: 10 night screenings of selected broadcasts from the last three seasons, ending on Sept. 7 with ‘Madama Butterfly.’ The Met is optimistic that the public will turn out for the series, even though all of the videos were first broadcast live and have been shown on public television’s ‘Great Performances at the Met.’ ”
Posted August 28, 2009
