David Alden News

Joyce DiDonato stars as Mary, Queen of Scots, in the first-ever Met production of Donizetti's intensely dramatic historical opera Maria Stuarda, on Great Performances at the Met today, Sunday, July 14 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)

Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads a rare revival of Berlioz's epic Les Troyens, based on Virgil's Aeneid on Great Performances at the Met today, June 30 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). In New York, THIRTEEN will broadcast the opera at 12:30 p.m.

Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann sings the title role in a new production of Wagner's final masterpiece Parsifal, staged by acclaimed French Canadian director Francois Girard in his Met debut, on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, July 28

Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann sings the title role in a new production of Wagner's final masterpiece Parsifal, staged by acclaimed French Canadian director François Girard in his Met debut, on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, July 28 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera in two parts: Friday, August 16 at 9 p.m. and Friday, August 23 at 9 p.m.)

Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads a rare revival of Berlioz's epic Les Troyens, based on Virgil'sAeneid on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, June 30 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). In New York, THIRTEEN will broadcast the opera at 12:30 p.m.

Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads a rare revival of Berlioz's epic Les Troyens, based on Virgil's Aeneid on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, June 30 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). In New York, THIRTEEN will broadcast the opera at 12:30 p.m.

Joyce DiDonato stars as Mary, Queen of Scots, in the first-ever Met production of Donizetti's intensely dramatic historical opera Maria Stuarda, on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, July 14 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)

The Canadian Opera Company has closed another successful opera season by recording an average attendance of 90% for 2012/2013. A total of 114,133 patrons attended the 61 performances of the company's seven mainstage productions this season in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts: Verdi's Il Trovatore, Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Richard Strauss's Salome and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites.

The regular season just ended for the Metropolitan Opera--all that's left is a series of HD rebroadcasts on Lincoln Center Plaza and a couple of low profile concerts in New York City parks--and it's time for a look back at what kind of season it was. With seven new productions and 21 other operas in rep during a season that ran from the end of September to mid-May, the Met was nothing if not far-reaching in its repertoire. And that's the way it should be. But how did its ambitions work out?

The Canadian Opera Company's production of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, directed by David Alden, opens tonight, April 17. Watch the video below for a preview!

Opening the Canadian Opera Company's 2012/2013 spring season is Gaetano Donizetti's bel cantomasterpiece, Lucia di Lammermoor, starring American soprano Anna Christy in a production created especially for her by director David Alden at English National Opera. American conductor Stephen Lord, named one of the '25 Most Powerful Names in U.S. Opera' by Opera News, leads the COC Orchestra and Chorus through Donizetti's cascading romantic melodies. Last presented by the COC in 2004, Lucia di Lammermoor returns for nine performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 17, 20, 26, 30, May 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24, 2013, and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES.

British composer Thomas Ades conducts the Met premiere of his contemporary Masterpiece THE TEMPEST, an English-language opera based on Shakespeare's final play. The Met's fantastical new production by Robert Lepage airs on Great Performances at the Met today, March 17 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). Get a sneak peek below!

British composer Thomas Ades conducts the Met premiere of his contemporary Masterpiece THE TEMPEST, an English-language opera based on Shakespeare's final play. The Met's fantastical new production by Robert Lepage airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, March 17 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings). Get a sneak peek below!

Opening the Canadian Opera Company's 2012/2013 spring season is Gaetano Donizetti's bel cantomasterpiece, Lucia di Lammermoor, starring American soprano Anna Christy in a production created especially for her by director David Alden at English National Opera. American conductor Stephen Lord, named one of the "25 Most Powerful Names in U.S. Opera" by Opera News, leads the COC Orchestra and Chorus through Donizetti's cascading romantic melodies. Last presented by the COC in 2004, Lucia di Lammermoor returns for nine performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 17, 20, 26, 30, May 9, 12, 15, 18 and 24, 2013, and is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES.

Maggie Siff plays Beatrice and Jonathan Cake Benedick in Theatre for a New Audience's new production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Arin Arbus, opening tonight, February 17, at 3:00pm at The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street.

British composer Thomas Ades conducts the Met premiere of his contemporary Masterpiece The Tempest, an English-language opera based on Shakespeare's final play.The Met's fantastical new production by Robert Lepage airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, March 17 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings).

Verdi's Shakespearean tragedy OTELLO starring Johan Botha in the title role and Renee Fleming as Otello's innocent wife, Desdemona, airs on GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET Sunday, February 24 at 12 noon on PBS (check local listings).

Maggie Siff plays Beatrice and Jonathan Cake Benedick in Theatre for a New Audience's new production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Arin Arbus, beginning previews Saturday, February 2 at 8:00pm for an opening Sunday, February 17, at 3:00pm at The Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street.

Two operas by Giuseppe Verdi will be simulcast live on the Peterborough Players big screen on two successive Saturdays at 1:00 pm: a new production of Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) on December 8; and Aida on December 15.

Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will lead his first Met performances of Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, in a new production by renowned opera director David Alden, beginning tonight, November 8. The staging is the first of two new Verdi productions in the current Met season, which includes seven operas by the great composer in honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth.