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.

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

The sixth of Bellini’s professional operas, La Sonnambula is set in a tiny village on the Swiss Alps. Mary Zimmerman’s present-day version, however, is set in a rehearsal space where the actors are staging a production of La Sonnambula set in the Swiss Alps. The story begins as the village is preparing for the wedding of Amina, played by Dessay, and Elvino, played by Juan Diego Flórez (Dessay and Florez just returned from their sensational run together in La Fille du Régiment at opera houses around the world). Themes of jealousy, mistaken identity, and innocence prevail, as Bellini’s sleepwalking beauty is put to the ultimate test to prove her undying love for her betrothed to the hauntingly mysterious music of Bellini and libretto by Felice Romani.
Great Performances At the Met: La Sonnambula is the eighth of 11 productions airing this season on the series. The performance is sung in Italian with English surtitles.

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

Visit Great Performances Online at www.pbs.org/gperf for additional information on this and other Great Performances programs. 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.

Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti

Librettists: Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean François Bayard

Production: Laurent Pelly

Conductor: Marco Armiliato

Performers: Natalie Dessay (Marie), Felicity Palmer (Marquise of Berkenfield), Juan Diego Flórez (Tonio), Alessandro Corbelli (Sulpice), Marian Seldes (Duchess of Krakenthorp)

Synopsis:
Hailed by the Times of London as an “exceedingly yummy operatic cake,” and “the operatic show of the season,” this interpretation of Donizetti’s rousing La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) premiered at Covent Garden in winter 2007 to rave reviews. Join GREAT PERFORMANCES at the Met for one of Donizetti’s most cherished — and perhaps one of the most vocally challenging — operas. Directed by Laurent Pelly, this production features Natalie Dessay’s fearless coloratura and impeccable comic timing paired with Juan Diego Flórez’s remarkable musicality, including, of course, the famous aria featuring nine high Cs. Dessay and Flórez are an “operatic coupling made in heaven,” proclaimed London’s Financial Times. The production also boasts stage legend and four-time Tony Award winner Marian Seldes as the Duchess of Krakenthorp and is conducted by Marco Armiliato.

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “La Fille du Règiment” has been provided by <a href=”http://www.tollbrothers.com/homesearch/servlet/HomeSearch?BAC-13WNETMetOpera” target=”_new”>Toll Brothers</a>, the Irene Diamond Fund, the Annenberg Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS.

Related Web Sites

• Laurent Pelly, Opera Director
• Natalie Dessay, Soprano
• Felicity Palmer, Mezzo-soprano
• Juan Diego Flórez, Tenor
  

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Television Credits

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “La Fille du Règiment”

Not available at this time.

<!–Directed by
Gary Halvorson

Conductor
James Levine

Production
Julie Taymor

Set Design
George Tsypin

Costume Design
Julie Taymor

Lighting Design
Donald Holder

Puppet Design
Julie Taymor
Michael Curry

Choreographer
Mark Dendy

English Adaptation
J. D. McClatchy

Characters in Order of Vocal Appearance
Tamino
Matthew Polenzani

First Lady
Wendy Bryn Harmer

Second Lady
Kate Lindsey

Third Lady
Tamara Mumford

Papageno
Nathan Gunn

Queen of the Night
Erika Miklósa

First Slave
Stephen Paynter

Second Slave
Kenneth Floyd

Third Slave
Gregory Cross

Monostatos
Greg Fedderly

Pamina
Ying Huang

First Spirit
Bennett Kosma

Second Spirit
Jesse Burnside Murray

Third Spirit
Jacob A. Wade

Speaker
David Pittsinger

Sarastro
René Pape

First Priest
Brian Davis

Second Priest
Tony Stevenson

Papagena
Jennifer Aylmer

First Guard
Michael Myers

Second Guard
Robert Lloyd

Solo Dancer
Rachel Schuette

Flute Solo
Michael Parloff

Chorus Master
Raymond Hughes

Musical Preparation
Jane Klaviter
Robert Morrison
Joshua Greene
Jens Georg Bachmann
Milos Repicky

Assistant Stage Directors
David Kneuss
J. Knighten Smit
Kathleen Smith Belcher

Libretto Consultant
Paul Cremo

Prompter
Jane Klaviter

Met Titles
Michael Panayos

English Diction Coach
Linda Gates

Children’s Chorus Director
Elena Doria

Projection Designer
Caterina Bertolotto

Makeup Designer
Reiko Kruk

Associate Set Designer
Iosef Yusupov

Associate Costume Designer
Mary Peterson

A Metropolitan Opera High-Definition Production
Supervising Producers
Mia Bongiovanni
Elena Park

Producers
Louisa Briccetti
Victoria Warivonchik

Audio Producer
Jay David Saks

Associate Director
Christine Clark Bradley

Engineer-in-Charge
Mark Schubin

Technical Supervisor
Ron Washburn

Technical Director
Emmett Loughran

Audio Supervisor
Bill King

Television Lighting
Wayne Chouinard

Writers
William Berger
Ellen Keel

Camera
Miguel Armstrong
Hank Geving
Manny Gutierrez
Charlie Huntley
John Kosmaczewski
Jay Millard
Alain Onesto
David Smith
Larry Solomon
Ron Washburn
Mark Whitman

Video
Billy Steinberg
Matty Randazzo
Paul Ranieri

Audio
Mel Becker
Chris Callus
Paul Cohen
Michael Shoskes
Shawn Walsh

Videotape
Alan Buchner
Steven Joyce

Television Stage Managers
Terence Benson
Karen Mclaughlin

English Subtitles Adapted by
Sonya Friedman

Broadcast Graphics
Deborah Cavanaugh

Score Reader
John Geller

Opening Segment
Director
Pat Jaffe

Lighting
Mitchell Bogard

Editor
Ernie Fritz

Post Production
Video Editor
Gary Bradley

Additional Video Editing
Eric Singer
Laura Young

Audio Editor
John Bowen

Post-Production Audio Mix
Ken Hahn

Production Secretary
Yolanda S. Williams

Production Assistants
Michael Griebel
Alyse Horn
Allegra Lucas
Enzo E. Martinez
Vanessa Palo
Harriet Snyder

Metropolitan Opera Association
General Manager
Peter Gelb

Music Director
James Levine

Assistant Managers
Sarah Billinghurst
Joseph Clark
Elena Park
Stewart Pearce
Bill Thomas
Coralie Toevs

Director of Media & Presentations
Mia Bongiovanni

Artistic Administrator
Jonathan Friend

General Counsel
Sharon E. Grubin

Senior Artistic Advisor
Eva Wagner-Pasquier

Director of Human Resources & Labor Relations
Ann Marie Hackett

Director of Music Administration
Craig Rutenberg

House Manager
James Naples

Chief Financial Officer
Marvin Suchoff

Press Director
Sommer Hixson

Director, New Business Development
Laura Mitgang

Marketing Director
Julie Borchard-Young

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Orchestra Manager
Robert Sirinek

Concertmaster
David Chan

Librarian
Robert Sutherland

Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Metropolitan Opera Ballet
Ballet Mistress
Diana Levy

Stage Managers
Thomas H. Connell, III
Raymond Menard
Scott Moon
Theresa Ganley
Margo Maier

Stage Operations
Master Carpenter
Stephen A. Diaz

Master Electrician
Paul Donahue

Properties Master
James R. Blumenfeld

Wig and Hair Stylist
Tom Watson

Makeup Artist
Victor Callegari

Wardrobe Supervisor
William Malloy

Costume Shop Head
Lesley Weston

Resident Costume Designer
Sylvia Nolan

Production Facilities
All Mobile Video Inc.
Dolby Laboratories

Remote Recording
Tandberg Television

Media Counsel
Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, P.C.

This abridged production of “The Magic Flute” is made possible by generous gifts from Bill Rollnick and Nancy Ellison Rollnick and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The original production of “Die Zauberflöte” was made possible by a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Kravis

Additional generous stage production funding was received from
John van Meter
The Annenberg Foundation
Karen and Kevin Kennedy
Bill Rollnick and Nancy Ellison Rollnick
Mr. and Mrs. William R. Miller
Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman
and
Mr. and Mrs. Ezra K. Zilkha

For GREAT PERFORMANCES
David Horn
Series Producer

Bill O’Donnell
Director, Program Development

Barry Schulman
Executive Producer

A Metropolitan Opera production in association with PBS/Thirteen WNET New York

Executive Producer
Peter Gelb

Copyright 2006

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