The Rialto Theatre will resume its collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, presenting The Met: Live in HD 2023-24 with nine new operas broadcast live at cinemas around the world. The first screening, of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, is coming up this Saturday.
Following a disruption of the programme during the past two years, partly due to the pandemic, the Rialto Theatre will host the entire repertoire of the Met’s live performances in the 2023-24 season, presenting a combination of timeless classics and contemporary productions.
The MET’s new repertoire includes much-anticipated premieres and contemporary works: Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie, a new production by Ivo van Hove starring mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato; X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by Tony-award-winning Anthony Davis; Florencia en el Amazonas by Daniel Catán, the first ever Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by the Met; Bizet’s Carmen by British director Carrie Cracknell; as well as Verdi’s La Forza del Destino. Alongside these new titles, the programme also features the successful revivals of Nabucco by Verdi, Roméo et Juliette by Gounod, La Rondine and Madama Butterfly by Puccini.
On the stage of New York’s historic opera, the audience will have the opportunity to admire some of the Met’s most distinguished performers. Soprano Lise Davidsen incarnates the role of Leonora in a new production of La Forza del Destino. Soprano Angel Blue plays the role of Magda in La Rondine and that of Micaëla in Carmen, in which mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina plays the lead alongside tenor Piotr Beczała in the role of Don José. Soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Benjamin Bernheim play the loving couple Roméo et Juliette.
“What began as an experiment 17 years ago has become a staple experience for opera lovers all over the world,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “Our 2023-24 season in cinemas reflects how opera is changing at the Met, where we are balancing timeless classics with accessible new work that is advancing the art form and attracting younger and more diverse audiences.”
The Rialto Theatre’s audience will have a rare opportunity to watch some of the MET’s finest operas, timeless masterpieces, world-acclaimed performers, exceptional contemporary works, and authentic operatic gems on the big screen, transmitted in high definition. All shows start at 19:55 and are subtitled in English.
The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Live broadcast from The Met. November 18. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. With subtitles in English. 7.55pm. €15-20. www.rialto.com.cy