Ravens Cry Theatre

Dec 15 (Sat), 2012 at 10 am

Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Production: Sonja Frisell
Set Designer: Gianni Quaranta
Cast: Liudmyla Monastyrska (Aida), Olga Borodina (Amneris), Roberto Alagna (Radamès), George Gagnidze (Amonasro), Štefan Kocán (Ramfis), Miklós Sebestyén (The King)

Verdi’s iconic opera set in ancient Egypt stars powerhouse Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, who makes her Met debut in the title role of an enslaved Ethiopian princess. Olga Borodina, one of the world’s best-known interpreters of the role, sings Aida’s royal rival, Amneris, and Roberto Alagna is the hero Radamès, who must choose between his love for Aida and his duty to his country. Fabio Luisi conducts his first Met performances of the opera, which also stars George Gagnidze as the Ethiopian king, Amonasro. Sonja Frisell’s spectacular staging uses the full theatrical capabilities of the Met stage to immerse the audience in the grandeur of ancient Egypt.

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 3 hours 54 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder

Jan 5 (Sat), 2013 at 9 am

Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Production: Francesca Zambello
Set Designer: Maria Bjørnson
Cast: Deborah Voigt (Cassandra), Susan Graham (Dido), Marcello Giordani (Aeneas), Dwayne Croft (Coroebus), Kwangchul Youn (Narbal)

Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed 2003 production of Berlioz’s Trojan War epic returns to the Met for its first revival. Fabio Luisi conducts a cast led by Marcello Giordani in the central role of Aeneas, the hero who flees the ruins of Troy for a new set of challenges in the North African kingdom of Carthage. Deborah Voigt reprises the role of the cursed Trojan prophetess Cassandra, which she sang in the new production premiere, and Susan Graham makes her Met role debut as Dido, the noble but heartbroken Queen of Carthage.

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 5 hours 41 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder

Jan 19 (Sat), 2013 at 10 am

Met Premiere

Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Production: David McVicar
Set & Costume Designer: John MacFarlane
Cast: Joyce DiDonato (Maria Stuarda), Elza van den Heever (Elisabetta), Francesco Meli (Leicester), Joshua Hopkins (Cecil), Matthew Rose (Talbot)

David McVicar, who directed last season’s Met premiere of Anna Bolena, directs the company premiere of the second opera in Donizetti’s famous trilogy of operas about Tudor history. “Donizetti’s three Tudor operas are very different in tone, mood, and musical content,” McVicar says. “With Maria Stuarda being a different kind of opera than last season’s Anna Bolena, which we presented with a great deal of historical accuracy, we’ve gone for a visual style which is freer. Rather than reflecting history, it reflects the romantic nature of this retelling of the story and the sweeping romantic nature of Donizetti’s music.” Joyce DiDonato sings the title role of the defiant Mary, Queen of Scots. South African soprano Elza van den Heever makes her Met debut as Mary’s formidable rival, Queen Elizabeth I. Maurizio Benini conducts a cast that also includes Francesco Meli as the Earl of Leicester, Joshua Hopkins as Cecil, and Matthew Rose as Talbot.

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 3 hours 15 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder

Feb 16 (Sat), 2013 at 10 am

Conductor: Michele Mariotti
Production: Michael Mayer
Set Designer: Christine Jones
Cast: Diana Damrau (Gilda), Oksana Volkova (Maddalena), Piotr Beczala (Duke of Mantua), Željko Lu?i? (Rigoletto),Štefan Kocán (Sparafucile)

Rising Italian conductor Michele Mariotti leads the new production premiere of Rigoletto, seen in a new staging by the Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer in his Met debut. Mayer’s approach transports the story from 16^th-century Italy to Las Vegas in 1960, with a cast led by Željko Lu?i? in the title role, Diana Damrau as his daughter, Gilda, Piotr Beczala as the Duke of Mantua, Štefan Kocán as the assassin Sparafucile, and Oksana Volkova in her Met debut as Sparafucile’s seductive sister, Maddalena. “I’ve tried to imagine a recent world that captures the decadence of the Duke’s palace, where the participants are in pursuit of power, money, and beauty,” Mayer says. “Las Vegas in the ‘60s is such a world, where a kind of prankster energy could go bad—it’s the epitome of the kinds of events that happen in Rigoletto.”

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 3 hours 31 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder

March 2 (Sat), 2013 at 9 am

Conductor: Daniele Gatti
Production: François Girard
Set Designer: Michael Levine
Dramaturg: Serge Lamothe
Cast: Katarina Dalayman (Kundry), Jonas Kaufmann (Parsifal), Peter Mattei (Amfortas), Evgeny Nikitin (Klingsor), René Pape (Gurnemanz)

Jonas Kaufmann makes his Met role debut as the title character in Parsifal, conducted by Daniele Gatti and directed by noted film and opera director François Girard in his Met debut. “Parsifal is not just an opera—it’s a mission. At the end of his life, Wagner was trying to reconcile all the aspects of his spirituality. It’s a sacred piece in the history of music,” Girard says. The cast also features Katarina Dalayman as Kundry, the mystical woman who tempts Parsifal; Peter Mattei in his role debut as Amfortas, king of the Knights of the Holy Grail; René Pape in one of his greatest roles, the wise old knight Gurnemanz; and Evgeny Nikitin as the magician Klingsor.

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 5 hours 40 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder

March 16 (Sat), 2013 at 9 am

Conductor: Marco Armiliato
Production: Piero Faggioni
Set Designer: Ezio Frigerio
Cast: Eva-Maria Westbroek (Francesca), Marcello Giordani (Paolo), Robert Brubaker (Malatestino), Mark Delavan (Gianciotto)

Zandonai’s early 20^th-century melodrama Francesca da Rimini returns to the Met for its first revival in more than 25 years, in Piero Faggioni’s opulent and realistic production. Marco Armiliato conducts Eva-Maria Westbroek in the title role of a noblewoman who is tricked into marrying the brutal Gianciotto, sung by Mark Delavan, instead of her true love Paolo, sung by Marcello Giordani. Robert Brubaker sings the wicked Malatestino, whose jealousy incites a murder.

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 3 hours 57 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder

April 27 (Sat), 2013 at 9am  

Conductor: Harry Bicket
Production: David McVicar
Set Designer: Robert Jones

Cast: Natalie Dessay (Cleopatra), Alice Coote (Sesto), Patricia Bardon (Cornelia), David Daniels (Giulio Cesare), Christophe Dumaux (Tolomeo), Guido Loconsolo (Achilla)

David McVicar’s second new production of the season is this dynamic staging of Giulio Cesare, a hit at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2005, which incorporates elements of Baroque theater and 19^th-century British imperialism to illuminate the opera’s themes of love, war, and empire building. “Giulio Cesare is a kaleidoscope of an opera—a semi-comic, semi-tragic adventure story. You get romance, you get drama, you get moments of political wheeling-and-dealing, complex family relationships—as well as real emotion and tragedy,” McVicar says. “It’s a miracle, and it has enabled me to express everything I feel is important about opera.” David Daniels stars as the title character, opposite Natalie Dessay in her Met role debut as the bewitching Cleopatra, Alice Coote as Sesto, Patricia Bardon as Cornelia, Christophe Dumaux as Tolomeo, and Guido Loconsolo in his Met debut as Achilla.

Cast subject to change without notification
Runtime: 4 hours 31 minutes, approximately.
Tickets: $24 (General) and $20 (Senior 65 yrs +). Call 604-885-4597 (after Sept 1, 2012) to have yours held for pickup.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor The Neubauer Family Foundation Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. Global corporate sponsorship of The Met Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg The HD Broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s Luxury Home Builder