The Met In HD – The Tales Of Hoffman
I’m looking forward to the Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast of Offenbach’s Les Contes D’Hoffmann on Saturday, December 19, 2009. The broadcast starts at 1:00 PM Eastern time. There is a list of theaters where you can see the broadcast on the Fathom Events web site. Scroll down the page until you see “PARTICIPATING THEATRES.” You should also check your local theater listings to confirm that it is actually being shown at a particular theater. I plan to view it at Cinemark’s Tinseltown 17 in Fayetteville, GA.
If you love opera, then you owe it to yourself to catch these Met broadcasts. The tickets are about $20, you have a good comfortable seat, you can see and hear everything with no problem, and you can stuff your face with popcorn if you like.
They also conduct interviews during the intermissions with singers, producers, directors, set designers, costume designers, and other people who contribute to the productions. I think this is great for students.
Oh, by the way, you can also download the cast sheet and synopsis from the Met’s web site.
- Samuel Barber At 100, ReconsideredHe was once dismissed as a composer for "high middlebrow taste." But Barber, who wrote the famous Adagio for Strings, would not be criticized if he were an emerging composer today, 100 years after his birth. […]
- Barber's 'Adagio': Naked Expression Of EmotionThere's a simple logic behind Samuel Barber's emotional Adagio. It progresses from a single note to high emotional wailing to release to final acceptance. On today's centennial of Barber's birth, take a guided tour of the music with commentator Rob Kapilow. […]
- Suds And Sensibility: Barber's Violin ConcertoBarber's beautiful concerto came about at the request of a soap magnate named Samuel Fels. Although the business end of the commission was sullied, the concerto came out sparkling. Hear violinist James Ehnes play the piece in concert. […]
- The Life And Music Of Samuel BarberIn the middle of the 20th century, when composers were writing with angularity and dissonance, Barber forged his own lyrical, romantic style. By the time he was 26, he'd composed the iconic Adagio for Strings. […]
- Lionel Loueke: Jazz Meets African Rhythms On 'Mwaliko'The jazz guitarist draws on an extremely wide range of styles. From bebop to Brazilian rhythms to lyrical ballads to sounds from his native Benin, Loueke's latest album, Mwaliko, showcases the artist's inventive take on jazz. […]
- Esperanza Spalding: Just Bass And VoiceBecause of her rigorous touring schedule, Spalding decided to give her band the afternoon off and showed up at KPLU's studio all by herself, with just her bass and her voice. As you'll hear, that was enough. […]
- Nicholas Payton: Live At The Village VanguardHe found his footing in jazz through its hard-swinging main stem. But after he'd proved his hard-bop mettle, he took a fork in the road toward electric experimentalism. Now, trumpeter Nicholas Payton seems comfortable pursuing a middle ground. Hear his band play live. […]