Marking the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death, the documentary Napoleon: In the Name of Art explores the complex relationship between Napoleon, culture and art. Host Jeremy Irons brings audiences on a tour from Milan to Paris for a look at Napoleon’s imperial iconography and architectural style and to reflect on the relationship between power and art.
For the first time in company history, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a starry cast, including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois, and mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Eboli. Bass-baritones Eric Owens and John Relyea are Philippe II and the Grand Inquisitor, and baritone Étienne Dupuis rounds out the principal cast as Rodrigue. Verdi’s masterpiece receives a monumental new staging by David McVicar that marks his 11th Met production, placing him among the most prolific and popular directors in recent Met memory.
Raphael: The Young Prodigy tells the story of the Italian Renaissance artist from Urbino, starting from his extraordinary portraits of women – the Mother, the Friend, the Secret Lover and the Client. From portraits of his mother, who died when the painter was only 8 years old, to the female admirers who helped him on his road to success, Raphael, (1483-1520), was able to portray an ideal of celestial beauty, and to focus his gaze more on the psychology of his subjects’ features than on their physical form, so that their personalities emerge in a striking manner. Audiences will discover the life and times of one of the most influential Renaissance painters.
Set twelve years before the epic His Dark Materials trilogy, this gripping adaptation revisits Philip Pullman’s fantastical world in which waters are rising and storms are brewing. Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others. Eighteen years after his ground breaking production of His Dark Materials at the National Theatre, director Nicholas Hytner returns to Pullman’s parallel universe. Broadcast live from London’s Bridge Theatre.
Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska stars in the title role of the legendary cold-hearted princess—seen live in cinemas on May 7. Tenor Yonghoon Lee is the bold prince determined to win Turandot’s love, alongside soprano Ermonela Jaho as the devoted servant Liù legendary bass Ferruccio Furlanetto as the blind king Timur. Marco Armiliato conducts Puccini’s stirring score. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.
To mark the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, Tutankhamun: The Last Exhibition offers audiences an extraordinary opportunity to meet the Pharaoh, with exclusive coverage of how 150 of his treasures were moved to become part of the biggest international exhibition ever dedicated to him. Explore a continuous dialogue of cross-references between the ancient past when the Pharaoh was alive, the more recent times which saw the discovery of his Tomb by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, and the present day with exhibitions and studies dedicated to Ancient Egypt.
Soprano Nadine Sierra takes on one of the repertory’s most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, in an electrifying new staging by Australian theater and film director Simon Stone, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Tenor Javier Camarena adds to the bel canto fireworks as Lucia’s beloved, Edgardo, with baritone Artur Ruciński as her overbearing brother, Enrico, and bass Matthew Rose as her tutor, Raimondo.
When Australian composer Brett Dean’s Hamlet had its world premiere at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2017, The Guardian declared, “New opera doesn’t often get to sound this good … Shakespeare offers a gauntlet to composers that shouldn’t always be picked up, but Dean’s Hamlet rises to the challenge.” On June 4, this riveting contemporary masterpiece appears live in cinemas, with Neil Armfield, who directed the work’s premiere, bringing his acclaimed staging to the Met. Many of the original cast members have followed, including tenor Allan Clayton in the title role. Nicholas Carter makes his Met debut conducting a remarkable ensemble, which also features soprano Brenda Rae as Ophelia, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly as Gertrude, baritone Rod Gilfry as Claudius, and bass-baritone John Relyea as the ghost of Hamlet’s father.
An exploration of Pompeii, a city cloaked in mystery and depicted through images and words by the great artists and writers who experienced and imagined it over the course of history: from Pliny the Younger to Picasso, from Emily Dickinson to Jean Cocteau. Famously known for the catastrophic volcanic eruption which buried Pompeii along with its inhabitants over 2000 years ago, Pompeii: Sin City hosted by Isabella Rossellini offers audiences an extraordinary snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment of burial, showing how its citizens lived their lives, spent their free time, experienced pleasure, passion, religion and ultimately, their fate.
Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) plays the title role in Shakespeare’s thrilling study of nationalism, war and the psychology of power. Fresh to the throne, King Henry V launches England into a bloody war with France. When his campaign encounters resistance, this inexperienced new ruler must prove he is fit to guide a country into war. Captured live from the Donmar Warehouse in London, this exciting modern production directed by Max Webster (Life of Pi) explores what it means to be English and our relationship to Europe, asking: do we ever get the leaders we deserve?
