The Met: Live in HD Returns to U.S. Movie Theaters Featuring 12 Live Productions in Fifth Anniversary Season of Emmy Award-Winning Series

The Metropolitan Opera’s Emmy® and Peabody award-winning The Met: Live in HD series returns to movie theaters for a fifth season this fall, featuring 12 LIVE operas – six of which are new productions including the first two installments of a highly anticipated new Ring cycle by Robert Lepage. The critically-acclaimed series will be transmitted live, in high definition, to nearly 550 movie theaters and performing arts centers in the United States through a renewed agreement with National CineMedia (NCM), the operator of the largest digital in-theater network for cinema advertising, entertainment and events in North America. Each live performance will take place on Saturdays, beginning on October 9^th with the Met’s new production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold directed by Lepage and conducted by Met Music Director James Levine, followed by an evening pre-recorded encore presentation the third Wednesday after the live performance.

Tickets are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and schedule, please visit the website (theaters and participants are subject to change). Ticket prices vary by location.

”We’re pleased that NCM continues to expand its network of theaters carrying the Met, making it possible for more opera lovers than ever to participate in our performances this season,” said Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera and Fathom, NCM’s entertainment and events division, present the 2010-11 season of The Met: Live in HD featuring live transmissions of 12 titles, with six new productions including the aforementioned Das Rheingold, Boris Godunov, Don Carlo, Die Walküre and the Met premiere productions of Nixon in China and Le Comte Ory. Opera favorites Don Pasquale, La Fanciulla del West, Iphigénie en Tauride, Lucia di Lammermoor, Capriccio and Il Trovatore complete the 2010-11 season.

"Fathom continues to bring unique and compelling entertainment to hundreds of communities around the country, transforming movie theaters into local community centers with our diverse line-up of events,” said Shelly Maxwell, senior vice president of NCM Fathom. "The Met: Live in HD series has transformed the way opera fans consume the art form and we are excited to continue our exclusive U.S. partnership with the Met for a marvelous fifth season beginning this October.”

The Met: Live in HD series participating theaters include select AMC Entertainment Inc., Celebration! Cinema, Cinemark Holdings, Inc., Clearview Cinemas, Cobb Theatres, Georgia Theatre Company, Goodrich Quality Theatres, Hollywood Theaters, Kerasotes Showplace Theatres, Malco Theatres, Marcus Theatres, National Amusements, Rave Motion Pictures and Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters, as well as independent theaters including Arena Theatre, The Arlington Theatre, Bainbridge 5, The Beacon Cinema, Carolina Theatre, El Raton Theatre, The Grand Theatre, High Five Cinema, Ocean Reef Cultural Center, Palace 9 Cinema, Penn Cinema, Rose Theatre, The Society of the Four Arts Theatre and the State Theatre.

The Met: Live in HD series expands in its fifth season to more than 1,500 theaters in 46 countries with Egypt, Spain and Portugal joining this year. The Met distributes to more than 600 locations in the United States, including to more than 550 participating NCM theaters.

The Met: Live in HD expands the appeal and reach of opera around the world and has been met with both critical and popular acclaim. The Met: Live in HD captures the onstage action from striking angles and heightens attention to the narrative elements of both performance and production by using robotic cameras and state-of-the-art technology. The series offers exclusive behind-the-scenes features, live interviews with cast and crew, insightful short documentaries and bird’s-eye views of the productions, offering an unprecedented look at what goes into the staging of an opera.

The Met: Live in HD series was honored with a prestigious Peabody Award in 2008 and won a special Emmy® Award in January 2009 for "advancing technology through ongoing, live, global transmission of high-definition programming to movie theaters.”

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation. Bloomberg L.P. is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD. The HD broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America’s luxury home builder®. The series is produced in association with PBS and WNET.org.

The 2010-11 The Met: Live in HD series planned schedule* is as follows:

Saturday, October 9, 2010 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
DAS RHEINGOLD – (NEW PRODUCTION) Two unparalleled artists join forces to create a groundbreaking new Ring for the Met: Maestro James Levine and director Robert Lepage. Bryn Terfel, singing his first Met Wotan, leads the cast in Das Rheingold, the Ring’s first installment.

Wednesday, October 27 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of DAS RHEINGOLD
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, October 23, 2010 – Noon Eastern / 9:00 a.m. Pacific
BORIS GODUNOV – (NEW PRODUCTION) Bass René Pape takes on one of opera’s most dramatic roles in a production by Stephen Wadsworth. Valery Gergiev conducts Mussorgsky’s tragic historical epic. Aleksandrs Antonenko and Ekaterina Semenchuk are among the other leading artists in a work that is also a showcase for the Met’s formidable chorus.

Wednesday, November 10 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of BORIS GODUNOV
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, November 13, 2010 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
DON PASQUALE – Anna Netrebko sings Norina, the role that made her a Met star, in this comedy by Donizetti, with Matthew Polenzani as Ernesto, Mariusz Kwiecien as Dr. Malatesta, and John Del Carlo in the title role. James Levine conducts the opera for the first time.

Wednesday, December 1 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of DON PASQUALE
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, December 11, 2010 – 12:30 p.m. Eastern / 9:30 a.m. Pacific
DON CARLO – (NEW PRODUCTION) Director Nicholas Hytner makes his Met debut with this new production of Verdi’s most ambitious opera. Roberto Alagna sings the title role, joined by Marina Poplavskaya as Elisabeth de Valois, Anna Smirnova as Princess Eboli, Simon Keenlyside as Rodrigo, and Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip II. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, back after his triumphant Met debut leading Carmen, conducts.

Wednesday, January 5, 2010 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of DON CARLO
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, January 8, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST – Puccini’s wild west opera stars all-American diva Deborah Voigt as Minnie and Marcello Giordani as Dick Johnson, under the baton of Nicola Luisotti. Lucio Gallo takes the role of the Sheriff Jack Rance. The performances mark the 100th anniversary of the opera’s world premiere at the Met.

Wednesday, January 26 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, February 12, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
NIXON IN CHINA – (MET PREMIERE PRODUCTION) John Adams’s acclaimed first opera has its Met premiere, in a staging by longtime Adams collaborator Peter Sellars. Kathleen Kim is Chiang Ch’ing, Janis Kelly sings Pat Nixon, and James Maddalena reprises his acclaimed portrayal of the U.S. president, a role he created in the 1987 world premiere. Adams conducts.

Wednesday, March 2 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of NIXON IN CHINA
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, February 26, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE – Susan Graham sings the title role in Gluck’s masterful interpretation of the Greek myth, opposite Plácido Domingo as her brother Oreste and Paul Groves as his friend Pylade. Patrick Summers conducts.

Wednesday, March 16 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, March 19, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR – Natalie Dessay returns to her triumphant portrayal of Donizetti’s fragile heroine in the Met’s hit production, with Joseph Calleja as her lover Edgardo and Ludovic Tézier as her scheming brother, Enrico. Patrick Summers conducts.

Wednesday, April 6 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, April 9, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
LE COMTE ORY – (MET PREMIERE PRODUCTION) Rossini’s vocally dazzling comedy soars with bel canto sensation Juan Diego Flórez in the title role. He vies with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, in the trouser role of Isolier, for the love of the lonely Countess Adèle, sung by soprano Diana Damrau. Bartlett Sher, director of the Met’s popular productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Les Contes d’Hoffmann, stages this Met premiere production. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Wednesday, April 27 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of LE COMTE ORY
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, April 23, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
CAPRICCIO – Renée Fleming dazzled audiences when she sang Capriccio’s final scene on Opening Night of the 2008–09 season. Now she sings Strauss’s entire diva showcase in John Cox’s production, with Andrew Davis conducting.

Wednesday, May 11 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of CAPRICCIO
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, April 30, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
IL TROVATORE – David McVicar’s popular production returns with Marcelo Álvarez as the heroic troubadour of the title, with Dmitri Hvorostovsky as his powerful rival and Sondra Radvanovsky as the noble Leonora. Dolora Zajick reprises her interpretation of Azucena, the gypsy fixated on past crimes and vengeance. James Levine conducts.

Wednesday, May 18 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of IL TROVATORE
(Available in select theaters only.)

Saturday, May 14, 2011 – Noon Eastern / 9:00 a.m. Pacific
DIE WALKÜRE – (NEW PRODUCTION) The second installment of Robert Lepage’s new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle, conducted by James Levine, features Bryn Terfel as Wotan, while Deborah Voigt adds the part of Brünnhilde to her extensive Wagnerian repertoire at the Met. Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek star as the Volsung twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, and Stephanie Blythe is Fricka.

Wednesday June 1 – 6:30 p.m. local time
Encore presentation of DIE WALKÜRE
(Available in select theaters only.)

*Programs and casting subject to change. For more details on the operas, please visit the Met’s web site at www.metopera.org/hdlive

About National CineMedia (NCM)

NCM operates NCM Media Networks, a leading integrated media company reaching U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology. The NCM Cinema Network and NCM Fathom present cinema advertising and events across the nation’s largest digital in-theater network, comprised of theaters owned by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) and other leading regional theater circuits. NCM’s theater network covers 172 Designated Market Areas® (49 of the top 50) and includes approximately 17,100 screens (15,600 digital). During 2009, over 680 million patrons attended movies shown in theaters currently included in NCM’s network (excluding Consolidated Theatres). The NCM Fathom Events broadcast network is comprised of approximately 550 locations in 154 Designated Market Areas® (49 of the top 50). The NCM Interactive Network offers 360-degree integrated marketing opportunities in combination with cinema, encompassing over 40 entertainment-related web sites, online widgets and mobile applications. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 48.2% interest in and is the managing member of National CineMedia LLC. For more information, visit www.ncm.com or www.fathomevents.com.

About the Metropolitan Opera

Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world. For more information about the Metropolitan Opera, please visit www.metopera.org.