Several of opera's biggest stars beamed in from around the world to announce the Metropolitan Opera's latest virtual initiative amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The New York opera house, which suspended live performances in March, plans a dozen online concerts through December featuring leading singers from around the world. According to AFP, tickets will cost $20.
The series kicks off on July 18 with German tenor Jonas Kaufmann at the Polling Abbey outside Munich performing some of opera's greatest hits including "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot" and popular arias from "Tosca" and "Carmen".
Other performances include American soprano Renee Fleming at the Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington in August and Russian soprano Anna Netrebko from the Liechtenstein Palace in Vienna. Details about later performances are still being worked out, and none of the shows will have a live audience, a Met spokeswoman said. Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel plans a holiday concert from a to-be-determined church in December. "Hopefully by then there will be a semblance of an orchestra," Terfel said on the Zoom press conference.
African-American soprano Angel Blue will also perform in December at a New York venue yet to be named. Blue said she hopes to include some patriotic numbers that could bring people together in the wake of mass protests for racial justice.
The series is the opera's latest effort to stay on the public radar and garner some revenue at a time when live performances remain suspended.
The Met last month canceled its fall 2020 season. The current plan is to launch the season on December 31, but that also depends on public health conditions.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
