SPECIAL PROGRAM
The MET: Live in HD
Agrippina (The MET)
236 Minutes
Composer:George Frideric Handel
Conductor: Harry Bicket
Handel’s breakout opera masterpiece, Agrippina offers a wryly satirical look at the political maneuverings and personal entanglements of the Roman emperor Claudius, his cadre of advisers and hangers-on, and his cunning wife, Agrippina. During the 2019–20 season, the Baroque black comedy had its long-awaited Met premiere in new production by Sir David McVicar that updated the action to the present age. In this Live in HD transmission, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato delivers a knockout performance of the title role, a woman who will stop at nothing to get her depraved son, Nero (sung by mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey), on the throne. Harry Bicket conducts an exquisite ensemble cast, which also features soprano Brenda Rae in her debut season as Poppea, countertenor Iestyn Davies as Ottone, countertenor Nicholas Tamagna as Narciso, baritone Duncan Rock as Pallante, and bass Matthew Rose as Claudio.
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Conductor: Harry Bicket
Handel’s breakout opera masterpiece, Agrippina offers a wryly satirical look at the political maneuverings and personal entanglements of the Roman emperor Claudius, his cadre of advisers and hangers-on, and his cunning wife, Agrippina. During the 2019–20 season, the Baroque black comedy had its long-awaited Met premiere in new production by Sir David McVicar that updated the action to the present age. In this Live in HD transmission, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato delivers a knockout performance of the title role, a woman who will stop at nothing to get her depraved son, Nero (sung by mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey), on the throne. Harry Bicket conducts an exquisite ensemble cast, which also features soprano Brenda Rae in her debut season as Poppea, countertenor Iestyn Davies as Ottone, countertenor Nicholas Tamagna as Narciso, baritone Duncan Rock as Pallante, and bass Matthew Rose as Claudio.
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Porgy and Bess (The MET)
215 Minutes
Composer:The Gershwins'
Conductor: David Robertson
During the 2019–20 season, one of America’s greatest operas returned to the Met stage for the first time in 30 years, with the premiere of James Robinson’s vibrant new production of Porgy and Bess. In this Live in HD transmission, bass-baritone Eric Owens and soprano Angel Blue star in the title roles, headlining a phenomenal ensemble cast. The performance also features soprano Golda Schultz and bass-baritone Donovan Singletary as Clara and Jake, soprano Latonia Moore as Serena, and tenor Frederick Ballentine and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Sportin’ Life and Crown. And as the community matriarch Maria, veteran mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves delivers a scene-stealing performance. David Robertson conducts this beloved score, which includes a number of melodies that have become classic American standards.
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Conductor: David Robertson
During the 2019–20 season, one of America’s greatest operas returned to the Met stage for the first time in 30 years, with the premiere of James Robinson’s vibrant new production of Porgy and Bess. In this Live in HD transmission, bass-baritone Eric Owens and soprano Angel Blue star in the title roles, headlining a phenomenal ensemble cast. The performance also features soprano Golda Schultz and bass-baritone Donovan Singletary as Clara and Jake, soprano Latonia Moore as Serena, and tenor Frederick Ballentine and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Sportin’ Life and Crown. And as the community matriarch Maria, veteran mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves delivers a scene-stealing performance. David Robertson conducts this beloved score, which includes a number of melodies that have become classic American standards.
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Akhnaten (The MET)
223 Minutes
Composer:Philip Glass
Conductor: Karen Kamensek
One of the biggest hits of the 2019–20 season, Philip Glass's Akhnaten is the third installment in the composer's Portrait Trilogy focused on revolutionary figures from world history. Starring as the ancient Egyptian pharaoh who attempted to radically alter his society, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo headlines this performance from the series. Karen Kamensek conducts the hypnotic score, leading a cast that also features soprano Dísella Lárusdóttir as Queen Tye, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges as Nefertiti, and bass Zachary James as Amenhotep I. Phelim McDermott's endlessly inventive production fills the Met stage with breathtaking visuals, including virtuosic pattern-juggling routines by Gandini Juggling.
Akhnaten will be performed without subtitles, except for scene titles and select texts. Director Phelim McDermott’s goal is to create a theatrical experience that is beyond words, plot information and conventional storytelling.
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Conductor: Karen Kamensek
One of the biggest hits of the 2019–20 season, Philip Glass's Akhnaten is the third installment in the composer's Portrait Trilogy focused on revolutionary figures from world history. Starring as the ancient Egyptian pharaoh who attempted to radically alter his society, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo headlines this performance from the series. Karen Kamensek conducts the hypnotic score, leading a cast that also features soprano Dísella Lárusdóttir as Queen Tye, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges as Nefertiti, and bass Zachary James as Amenhotep I. Phelim McDermott's endlessly inventive production fills the Met stage with breathtaking visuals, including virtuosic pattern-juggling routines by Gandini Juggling.
Akhnaten will be performed without subtitles, except for scene titles and select texts. Director Phelim McDermott’s goal is to create a theatrical experience that is beyond words, plot information and conventional storytelling.
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Manon (The MET)
252 Minutes
Composer: Jules Massenet
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Ever since graduating from the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Lisette Oropesa has had a meteoric career around the world, excelling in some of the pinnacles of the soprano repertoire. During the 2019–20 season, she returned to the Met stage to star in her largest role with the company to date, the irresistible heroine of Massenet’s Manon. As the young ingénue, Oropesa delivers a stunning performance, marked by brilliant coloratura, melting lyricism, and enchanting stage presence. Recorded as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions, this performance also features tenor Michael Fabiano as the impetuous Chevalier des Grieux and baritone Artur Ruci?ski as Lescaut. Maurizio Benini is on the podium to lead one of the most passionate scores in the French operatic repertoire.
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Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Ever since graduating from the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Lisette Oropesa has had a meteoric career around the world, excelling in some of the pinnacles of the soprano repertoire. During the 2019–20 season, she returned to the Met stage to star in her largest role with the company to date, the irresistible heroine of Massenet’s Manon. As the young ingénue, Oropesa delivers a stunning performance, marked by brilliant coloratura, melting lyricism, and enchanting stage presence. Recorded as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions, this performance also features tenor Michael Fabiano as the impetuous Chevalier des Grieux and baritone Artur Ruci?ski as Lescaut. Maurizio Benini is on the podium to lead one of the most passionate scores in the French operatic repertoire.
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Der Rosenkavalier (The MET)
270 Minutes
Composer: Richard Strauss
Conductor: Sebastian Weigle
Ever since her first Met performances as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier in 2000, Renée Fleming has been celebrated as one of the most compelling interpreters of the role. In this Live in HD transmission, broadcast nearly two decades later, the silver-voiced American soprano sings her final performance as the elegant princess coming to grips with the persistent passage of time. Mezzo-soprano El?na Garan?a delivers a commanding portrayal as Octavian, the title “Knight of the Rose” and the Marschallin’s impetuous young lover, in Robert Carsen’s madcap new production—which sets the action in 1911, the year of the work’s premiere. As the plucky young heiress Sophie, Erin Morley sings with a radiantly beautiful soprano, while bass Günther Groissböck offers a larger-than-life portrayal of Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, the outlandish nobleman lusting after every woman in sight. And tenor Matthew Polenzani excites with his
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Conductor: Sebastian Weigle
Ever since her first Met performances as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier in 2000, Renée Fleming has been celebrated as one of the most compelling interpreters of the role. In this Live in HD transmission, broadcast nearly two decades later, the silver-voiced American soprano sings her final performance as the elegant princess coming to grips with the persistent passage of time. Mezzo-soprano El?na Garan?a delivers a commanding portrayal as Octavian, the title “Knight of the Rose” and the Marschallin’s impetuous young lover, in Robert Carsen’s madcap new production—which sets the action in 1911, the year of the work’s premiere. As the plucky young heiress Sophie, Erin Morley sings with a radiantly beautiful soprano, while bass Günther Groissböck offers a larger-than-life portrayal of Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau, the outlandish nobleman lusting after every woman in sight. And tenor Matthew Polenzani excites with his
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Critics’ Choice 2021—Unusual Family
“Family” can be the source of warmth and love, but it can also be cold and cruel. A family can be a pillar of support, but it can also be a burden. It can really evoke a torrent of different emotions. Family isn’t just made of people, it can also make a space. When we say that we’re going home, what does “home” mean?
This edition’s Critics’ Choice programme is themed as “Unusual Family”. The eight selected films cover different issues, and they deal with the main theme with very different approaches. We hope that these films can reflect the true state of family.
“Family” can be the source of warmth and love, but it can also be cold and cruel. A family can be a pillar of support, but it can also be a burden. It can really evoke a torrent of different emotions. Family isn’t just made of people, it can also make a space. When we say that we’re going home, what does “home” mean? This edition’s Critics’ Choice programme is themed as “Unusual Family”. The eight selected films cover different issues, and they deal with the main theme with very different approaches. We hope that these films can reflect the true state of family.
Raise Ravens
109 Minutes
The Spanish saying goes, "Raise ravens and they'll pluck out your eyes."
9-year-old Ana and her two sisters have lost their parents, their mother to a painful illness, and their father to a sweet death with his married lover. Ana's aunt is now their ward and Ana's mute and wheelchair-bound grandmother moves in with them. Strangely enough, Ana's deceased parents appear to her as if they have never departed. The grown-up Ana also drops by from 20 years after. General Franco was in his deathbed when Saura started this film. On the film's release Franco was no more and Spain was on the way to become a democracy. Cría cuervos is in part a subdued reprisal of the oppressive society and family under the Franco regime, in part a silent
elegy that presents childhood as an unavoidable tragedy. This is Ana Torrent's first film appearance after the harrowing The Spirit of the Beehive (1973). The Spanish pop song “Porque te vas” was used to such great effect that it became well-known internationall
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9-year-old Ana and her two sisters have lost their parents, their mother to a painful illness, and their father to a sweet death with his married lover. Ana's aunt is now their ward and Ana's mute and wheelchair-bound grandmother moves in with them. Strangely enough, Ana's deceased parents appear to her as if they have never departed. The grown-up Ana also drops by from 20 years after. General Franco was in his deathbed when Saura started this film. On the film's release Franco was no more and Spain was on the way to become a democracy. Cría cuervos is in part a subdued reprisal of the oppressive society and family under the Franco regime, in part a silent
elegy that presents childhood as an unavoidable tragedy. This is Ana Torrent's first film appearance after the harrowing The Spirit of the Beehive (1973). The Spanish pop song “Porque te vas” was used to such great effect that it became well-known internationall
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Rocco and His Brothers
177 Minutes
Magnificently operatic, Visconti’s 1960 epic is a family saga told in five chapters (for the five brothers in the film’s family). Eldest son Vincenzo, who is engaged to Ginetta (Claudia Cardinale), was the first to leave his rural hometown for the hustle and bustle of Milan. Later, Vincenzo is joined in the city by her mother Rosaria and his four younger brothers, but each adapts to city life in vastly different ways. Second brother Simone turns to boxing and becomes enamored with Nadia, a prostitute. However, he ends up turning to a life of crime. Meanwhile, third brother Rocco (Alain Delon) becomes a soldier and ends up winning Nadia’s affections, which ignites Simone’s anger and jealousy. Even when Rocco decides to sacrifice his well-being to protect every member of his family, he fails to stop the family from falling apart in the end. One of Visconti’s most beloved works, the film came to influence The Godfather trilogy and Martin Scorsese’s films. Hou Hsiao-hsien even inserted two
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Secrets & Lies
142 Minutes
Mike Leigh’s revered masterpiece how an adoption rocks the foundation of a London working-class family is as wise, delicate and timeless as Yasujiro Ozu’s takes on Tokyo
families. When an adult woman finds the birth mother she never met, is it possible for her newfound birth family to accept her? Leigh brilliantly depicts the bittersweet clash between dysfunctional family dynamics and even more complicated issues like race, class and gender with gusto.
Hortense is a black optometrist living in London. After the death of her foster mother, she discovers that her biological mother is Cynthia, a white woman near her 50s who’s suffered from bad luck all her life. As Cynthia’s younger daughter Roxanne’s 21st birthday approaches, Cynthia’s well-off younger brother Maurice decides to put together a huge party. However, the party would become a gathering in which secrets and lies are mercilessly spread out for all to see. Best known for his extensive use of improvisation, Leigh slowly finds hi
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families. When an adult woman finds the birth mother she never met, is it possible for her newfound birth family to accept her? Leigh brilliantly depicts the bittersweet clash between dysfunctional family dynamics and even more complicated issues like race, class and gender with gusto.
Hortense is a black optometrist living in London. After the death of her foster mother, she discovers that her biological mother is Cynthia, a white woman near her 50s who’s suffered from bad luck all her life. As Cynthia’s younger daughter Roxanne’s 21st birthday approaches, Cynthia’s well-off younger brother Maurice decides to put together a huge party. However, the party would become a gathering in which secrets and lies are mercilessly spread out for all to see. Best known for his extensive use of improvisation, Leigh slowly finds hi
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Adoption
88 Minutes
A chance encounter brings two lonely souls together, allowing them to find temporary comfort and security in each other. Kata is a 43-year-old widow working in a wood factory. She’s been in a relationship with a married man for years, and her loneliness has sparked her desire to become a mother, despite her lover’s objections. When Kata meets Anna, a teenager who had just escaped from a nearby children’s home, Kata once again finds color in her monotonous life. While helping Anna reconcile with her boyfriend, Kata meets other young girls in the children’s home, which further strengthens her desire to adopt a child. At the same time, seeing the broken families behind the girls’ stubborn eyes also unexpectedly triggers Kata to reevaluate traditional institutions of family and marriage. Dealing with the inner turmoil of each character with care, Márta Mészáros captures Kata’s life and her agency with sensitivity and delicacy. Mészáros’ liberal use of closeups also effectively capture the
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Return of the Prodigal Son
120 Minutes
When Ali returns home after spending a decade away, he finds himself becoming the bearer of all his family’s hopes and dreams—His fiancée hopes to get the marriage
she’s been dreaming of after waiting 12 years; his nephew hopes for Ali’s help in realizing his dreams of studying abroad; his parents look to him as the key that will revive the family’s greatness; and the villagers hope that he will bring new changes to the family company. However, ten years in jail has drained Ali of passion and motivation, and his return merely hastens the family’s inevitable collapse. Adapting the novel by French author Andre Gide, Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine brings a cynical and colorful take on the bible’s “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. The use of song and-dance musical sequences as well as mentions of historical events like the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and the Six-Day War add extra layers of intrigue to Chahine’s complex tale of one very dysfunctional family.
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she’s been dreaming of after waiting 12 years; his nephew hopes for Ali’s help in realizing his dreams of studying abroad; his parents look to him as the key that will revive the family’s greatness; and the villagers hope that he will bring new changes to the family company. However, ten years in jail has drained Ali of passion and motivation, and his return merely hastens the family’s inevitable collapse. Adapting the novel by French author Andre Gide, Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine brings a cynical and colorful take on the bible’s “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. The use of song and-dance musical sequences as well as mentions of historical events like the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and the Six-Day War add extra layers of intrigue to Chahine’s complex tale of one very dysfunctional family.
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The German Sisters (Marianne & Juliane)
102 Minutes
Two sisters take on different destinies in their fight for women’s civil rights in New German Cinema filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta’s critically acclaimed classic, based
on the accounts of German Red Army Faction member Gudrun Ensslin and her sister, Christiane. Juliane and her younger sister Marianne grew up during World War II in a
strict family headed by a pastor. Juliane was the rebel who became a crusading journalist advocating for women’s rights. Marianne, on the other hand, was the gentle, obedient daughter who ended up becoming a radical revolutionary. Framed as an extended flashback, the film traces the vastly divergent paths that the sisters take, eventually leading to Marianne’s dubious death in prison, leaving behind a truth that is impossible to uncover. The child that Marianne abandoned for her pursuit, in turn, causes Marianne to rethink her own life. One of von Trotta’s most beloved works, the film examines personal growth, familial relations, social relations, and eve
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on the accounts of German Red Army Faction member Gudrun Ensslin and her sister, Christiane. Juliane and her younger sister Marianne grew up during World War II in a
strict family headed by a pastor. Juliane was the rebel who became a crusading journalist advocating for women’s rights. Marianne, on the other hand, was the gentle, obedient daughter who ended up becoming a radical revolutionary. Framed as an extended flashback, the film traces the vastly divergent paths that the sisters take, eventually leading to Marianne’s dubious death in prison, leaving behind a truth that is impossible to uncover. The child that Marianne abandoned for her pursuit, in turn, causes Marianne to rethink her own life. One of von Trotta’s most beloved works, the film examines personal growth, familial relations, social relations, and eve