Great Performances at the Met is a presentation of THIRTEEN for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.

Dessay’s acclaimed portrayal was first seen on the Met stage in the 2007 premiere of Mary Zimmerman’s production, which was the Met’s opening night gala of that season. For this broadcast, she stars opposite the remarkable young tenor Joseph Calleja as Edgardo. They are joined by Ludovic Tézier as Enrico and Kwangchul Youn as Raimondo. Patrick Summers, the Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, conducts.

Dessay’s 2007 Met role debut, simulcast live on video screens in Times Square and Lincoln Center Plaza, earned the soprano excellent reviews that praised her dramatic commitment as well as her vocal performance in the demanding role. Now viewers nationally will be able to see the performance that the Associated Press called “a lesson in the art of a superb singing actress.” Dessay’s recent Great Performances at the Met appearances include Amina in La Sonnambula and Marie in La Fille du Régiment.

“Joseph Calleja was sensationally ardent as Lucia’s lover, Edgardo” (The New York Times), the sixth role in his growing Met repertory. His performances in the house have included the title character in Bartlett Sher’s new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann (a Great Performances at the Met broadcast) and the lead tenor roles in this season’s revivals of Rigoletto and La Bohème.

French baritone Ludovic Tézier sings Enrico, the villainous brother who forces Lucia into an arranged marriage for his own gain. Korean bass Kwangchul Youn is the chaplain Raimondo. Maestro Summers, who led the Iphigénie en Tauride broadcast in May, has conducted a varied repertory at the Met that includes recent revivals of Madama Butterfly, Salome, I Puritani, and Rodelinda.

Renée Fleming, who stars in the Great Performances at the Met telecast of Capriccio on August 14, is the host for Lucia di Lammermoor. Barbara Willis Sweete directs the broadcast and Jay David Saks is music producer.

Major funding for Great Performances at the Met: Lucia di Lammermoor was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Great Performances is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, and Joseph A. Wilson. Corporate support for Great Performances at the Met is provided by Toll Brothers, America’s luxury home builder®.

For the Met, Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are Supervising Producers, and Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik are Producers. Peter Gelb is Executive Producer. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is Series Producer; David Horn is Executive Producer.

Soprano Netrebko, returning to the Met stage for the first time since giving birth to son Tiago in September, dazzles in the demanding title role, a young woman driven to madness by love and politics. Piotr Beczala co-stars as Lucia’s head-strong lover Edgardo. The telecast is conducted by Marco Armiliato and presented by THIRTEEN in 5.1 surround sound.

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“These enormously gifted and appealing artists won ardent ovations,” cheered The New York Times. “We are lucky to have them around.”

Eschewing the work’s traditional 1700s Scottish setting, the production – by Mary Zimmerman and which opened the Met last season – was hailed by AP as “handsomely traditional and imaginatively provocative.” Zimmerman – along with set designer Daniel Ostling, costume designer Mara Blumenfeld, lighting designer T. J. Gerckens, and choreographer Daniel Pelzig – stages the bel canto favorite as a Victorian ghost story

The piece, with its famous Mad Scene (and Sextet), has long served as a vehicle for beloved coloratura sopranos. Since its premiere in 1836, it has showcased such legendary interpreters as Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, and, most recently Anna Netrebko and Natalie Dessay.

Also featuring baritone Mariusz Kwiecien as Lucia’s brother, Enrico, and Ildar Abdrazakov as Raimondo, Great Performances at the Met: Lucia di Lammermoor is the sixth of 11 productions airing this season on the series. It is sung in Italian with English surtitles; Salvatore Cammarano wrote the libretto. The production was transmitted onstage as part of The Met: Live in HD February 7, 2009, and recorded for this telecast. Gary Halvorson directs, with Natalie Dessay as host. Jay Saks is audio producer.

Great Performances at the Met is a production of THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG – one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.

Great Performances is funded by the Irene Diamond Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, Vivian Milstein, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public television viewers, and PBS. Corporate support for Great Performances at the Met is provided by Toll Brothers.

For the Met, Mia Bongiovanni and Elena Park are Supervising Producers, and Louisa Briccetti and Victoria Warivonchik are Producers. Peter Gelb is Executive Producer. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is Series Producer; David Horn is Executive Producer.