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Met broadcasts to movie theaters
Beginning with the 30 December 2006 Saturday matinee live performance of the 110-minute version of Julie Taymor's production of The Magic Flute, the Met (along with NCM Fathom)[3][4] launched Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD, a series of six productions from the 2006-07 season in 100 movie theaters across the USA, Canada, Japan, and several European countries, including Britain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark which are equipped to present high definition satellite video downloads on the big screen.[5] According to the Met's press release[6] 48 out of 60 US theaters had sold out prior to the broadcast, including venues in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami and Washington, D.C., while all seven of the UK participating theatres (City Screen) had also sold out. These movie transmissions have received wide and generally favorable press coverage.
The series has continued throughout the 2006-07 season with live HD transmissions of I Puritani, The First Emperor, Eugene Onegin, The Barber of Seville, and Il Trittico. In addition, limited repeat showings of the operas have been offered in most of the presenting cities. Digital sound for the performances is provided by Sirius Satellite Radio.
The Met reports that 91% of all available seats have been sold for the HD performances.[8] According to General Manager Peter Gelb, there were 60,000 people in cinemas around the world watching the March 24 transmission of The Barber of Seville.[9]. For the 2006/7 season, it is reported that 324,000 tickets were sold worldwide, while each simulcast cost $850,000 to $1 million to produce.
For the 2007-08 season, the Met has announced that eight of its season's productions will be presented Live in HD beginning December 15, 2007 with Roméo et Juliette and ending with La fille du régiment on April 26, 2008.[11]. In addition, Gelb has noted that "he expects the number of people who attend live Met performances in movie houses next season to match the cumulative audience for all 225 performances in the Met auditorium: about 800,000 people" [10]. Coverage to double the number of theaters in the US, as well as to additional countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain is planned for 2007/08. The number of participating venues in the US, which includes movie theatre chains as well as independent theatres and some college campus venues, is 343.
Odeon Cinemas to screen Glyndebourne Operas June 26 2007
Following in the successful footsteps of the Metropolitan Opera's live broadcasts to cinemas across the United States, Odeon Cinemas will screen three Glyndebourne Opera productions this autumn in ten cities around the UK. With tickets starting from £7.50 per person, audiences will be given an opportunity to see such festival productions as Tristan und Isolde and Così fan tutte at a fraction of the cost for the live event.
This new initiative, the first of its kind in the UK, sees the opera company leading the way once again - five years ago Glyndebourne was the first UK opera house to produce its own audio-visual material through a partnership with Opus
Arte and the BBC.
Recension
Picturehouse CInemas have been running live screenings of opera direct.
They are live, in Dolby surround sound and are an absolute sell out. I think that the Picturehouse circuit should be credited for being the first cinema circuit to bring opera to the cinema audience - and live too. This is simply jumping on the band wagon after a succesful independent circuit has shown how well it works. Well done Picturehouse Cinemas. I hope you will be showing more next season. |
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Sarah Talbo, London, UK |
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| My local Picturehouse cinema wanted £20 a ticket for it Met relays - twice what I paid to see Tristan and Cosi LIVE at Glyndebourne. OK, I had to stand, but I still think that was a lot better value. So well done Odeon cinemas for doing the deal with Glyndebourne and not charging through the nose for the privilege of seeing some of the very best opera in the world - better than the Met any day! |
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Anne Rowley, London, |
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| Aving delighted in the Metropolitan Opera, productions shown live in a cinema in Toronto earlier in the year, along with interviews with key players in the world of opera, I lamented the fact that English Opera Companies had not done the same thing across the UK. Congratulations to Glyndebourne for taking the initiative to relay some of their productions live in certain Odeon cinemas, and not just in London but here in Harrogate, Yorkshire, too. |
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Rosemary Marsh, Harrogate, England |
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