Natalie Dessay News

Two of opera's leading sopranos - both acclaimed for their dramatic and vocal skills - sing the demanding title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for the first time at the Met this season. In the opening performance, October 3, 2008, Diana Damrau - who last season became the first soprano to achieve the feat of singing both leading soprano roles in Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Pamina and the Queen of the Night, in the same Met season - sings the role of Lucia for the first time in her career. Polish tenor Piotr Beczala is her beloved Edgardo in his Met role debut.

Metropolitan Opera on SIRIUS Satellite Radio channel 78 launches its regular live broadcasts of the company's 2008-09 season with the Opening Night Gala starring Renée Fleming, which airs on Monday, September 22, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. The third season of Met Opera Radio on SIRIUS features four live broadcasts weekly as the Met celebrates its 125th anniversary with six new productions, including the company premiere of John Adams's Doctor Atomic, 18 revivals, and the season grand finale of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, conducted by Music Director James Levine.

Tickets for the third season of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's live transmissions in movie theaters around the world, go on sale to the general public on Friday August 22.

National CineMedia (NCM) LLC, operator of the largest digital in-theatre network in North America for cinema advertising and alternative entertainment and events, and the Metropolitan Opera are proudly partnering to bring a third season of the critically-acclaimed The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD series transmitted live, in high-definition, to more than 440 movie theatres and performing arts centers in the United States.

Tickets for the third season of The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's live transmissions in movie theaters around the world, go on sale to the general public on Friday August 22.

The Metropolitan Opera's critically-acclaimed live high-definition satellite transmissions will be seen on public television in a fourteen-part series, beginning on March 30. Great Performances at the Met, presented by Thirteen/WNET New York, will feature the broadcast premieres of all eight presentations from the 2007-08 season of 'The Met: Live in HD,' as well as the six shows from the 2006-07 season. A special prime time showing of Hansel and Gretel on March 26 will precede the series, which will air every Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m./EST for 14 weeks in selected public television markets. In New York, the programs will be a part of Thirteen/WNET's new SundayArts programming showcase, beginning on Sunday, March 30 with Richard Jones's new English-language production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, is the final broadcast of the series on Sunday, June 29.

The Met's second season of 'Live in HD' continues on Saturday, March 15 at 1:30 pm/est with the new production of Britten's PETER GRIMES. Tenor Anthony Dean Griffey sings the title role, Patricia Racette is the kindhearted Ellen Orford, and Anthony Michaels-Moore is Balstrode. Donald Runnicles conducts. 'The tale of the iconoclast fisherman is the most powerful opera written since World War II,' said the Associated Press. 'Griffey's fascinating performance should not be missed.' Intermission features include live interviews hosted by star soprano Natalie Dessay, who opened the Met's current season with her acclaimed portrayal of Lucia di Lammermoor and stars in the upcoming 'Live in HD' transmission of LA FILLE DU REGIMENT. Ms. Dessay will interview Mr. Griffey, Ms. Racette, Maestro Runnicles, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, and John Doyle, the Tony Award-winning director who staged the Met's new production. The live transmission is directed for telecast by Gary Halvorson; Jay Saks is audio producer. PETER GRIMES is the fifth in a series of eight performances that will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York via satellite into more than 350 movie theaters across the country. Tickets are $22.00 U.S. adults; $20 U.S. senior; $15.00 U.S. children. More information on tickets and theaters at all participating locations is available at http://www.metoperafamily.org/hdlive.

The 32nd Laurence Olivier Awards were be presented by actor Richard E. Grant on March 9, 2008 in London. Below are the winners, click here for the full list of nominees.

The nominations were just released for the 2008 Olivier Awards and Haispray is leading the pack with 11 nominations.

The Metropolitan Opera's 'Live in High Definition' series of live satellite transmissions into movie theaters achieved record-breaking attendance in its first weekend of the new 2007-08 season. The first transmission on Saturday, December 15-Romeo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Placido Domingo-drew a worldwide audience of 97,000.

The second season of Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition kicks off worldwide on Saturday, December 15 at 1PM (EST) with the first of the Met's eight live opera transmissions: Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, starring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna, conducted by Plácido Domingo.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Opera will present A Tribute to Beverly Sills, a free public event dedicated to the memory of the great soprano, on September 16 at 5PM at the Metropolitan Opera. Sills, one of the most popular figures in the history of opera and a champion of the performing arts, died on July 2, 2007 at the age of 78.

In honor of the Met's 30th anniversary on PBS, Thirteen/WNET New York's 'Great Performances at the Met' series presents 'Great Moments at the Met: Viewer's Choice,' a showcase of fans' favorite televised Met moments, chosen through online voting.

Following up on the tremendous popular success of its inaugural Open Houses last season, the Metropolitan Opear will host the first of the season's three free Open Houses on Thursday, September 20, for the final dress rehearsal of Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti's haunting opera about a love doomed to fail, directed by Tony winner Mary Zimmerman, starring Natalie Dessay and Marcello Giordani.

On the heels of a notably strong box office opening, the Metropolitan Opera launches its 2007-08 season with a wide range of public outreach events and programs. For the second year in a row, the Met presents its groundbreaking opening-night relay to Times Square. On Monday, September 24, the gala performance of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor will be transmitted live onto giant outdoor screens in Times Square and Lincoln Center's Josie Robertson Plaza.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Opera will present 'A Tribute to Beverly Sills,' a free public event dedicated to the memory of the great soprano, on September 16, 2007

Theatre directors Mary Zimmerman, Adrian Noble, Richard Jones and John Doyle will be among those staging operas at the Met during the opera company's 2007-2008 season.