Opera Live and Kicking

The Met Opera’s Live Season 2011-12 will once again bring a selection from their award-winning series of live, high-definition performance transmissions to Warwick Arts Centre.

Donizetti’s Anna Bolena kicks off the season with Anna Netrebko’s portrayal of the ill-fated queen driven insane by her unfaithful king. in this Met premiere production by David McVicar. Ildar Abdrazakov co-stars as Henry VIII and Marco Armiliato conducts.

Mozart’s Don Giovanni is directed by Tony award-winning Michael Grandage and sees Mariusz Kwiecienbrings his interpretation of Mozart’s anti-hero to the Met for the first time.

This November sees part three of Wagner’s Ring in Siegfried in which the composer’s cosmic vision focuses on his hero’s early conquests, while Robert Lepage’s revolutionary stage machine transforms itself from bewitched forest to mountain-top love nest. Gary Lehman sings the title role and Deborah Voigt’s Brünnhilde is his prize.

Philip Glass’s landmark Satyagraha, set to text from the ancient Sanskrit scripture the Bhagavad Gita, returns to the Met for an encore engagement of this visually extravagant production. A moving account of Mahatma Gandhi’s formative experiences in South Africa which transformed him into a great leader, this unforgettable opera is sure to touch audiences across the world once again. Richard Croftreturns as Gandhi.

Sensational in the 2004 Met premiere of Stephen Wadsworth’s much-heralded production, Renée Fleming reprises the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda. She is joined by Stephanie Blythe and countertenor Andreas Scholl, and Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts.

Finally, Faust finishes a year of outstanding opera streamed live from the Met. Jonas Kaufmann takes the title role, René Pape plays the devil, and the driven, dynamic soprano Marina Poplavskayais Marguerite.

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