POTSDAM, NY (09/16/2010)(readMedia)-- The Met: Live in HD will return for its third season on the silver screen at Potsdam's Roxy Theater this fall, thanks to a partnership between SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music and J.S. Cinemas. For its 2010-11 series of live transmissions, the Metropolitan Opera will stage groundbreaking performances of both beloved classics and acclaimed modern works.

"I am thrilled that the Crane School of Music will continue its partnership with the Roxy in bringing a rich selection of live Metropolitan Opera performances to Potsdam. This initiative fits perfectly with Crane's mission, bringing high-level performances together with an opportunity to serve our students and the community through educational outreach," said Crane School of Music Dean Michael Sitton. "And the prominent appearances this season by two of our own celebrated alumni, Renée Fleming and Stephanie Blythe, bring the Met home to Potsdam in a particularly vivid way!"

Twelve operas, including six new productions, will be broadcast live at the downtown Roxy Theater, in startling high-definition with digital surround sound. Robotic cameras, strategically placed around and behind the stage, will capture the beauty and power of live performance from striking angles, and heighten attention to both performance and production.

Intermission features and English subtitles will once again bring the stories to life. For those who can't make the live performance transmission, encore presentations will also be presented. Experience the depth and raw energy of world-class opera without going all the way to New York City.

"The community is really looking forward to this season of The Met: Live in HD. People come up to me all the time with many, many positive responses from the last few years. I'm thrilled that it has taken root and developed a following of both established and brand-new opera-lovers. I see all ages at the broadcasts, from seniors to high school students, and we even have an 8-year-old boy who makes his mother bring him to his favorites. I love seeing people gathered in the lobby at the end, unwilling to go right home, discussing what they've just experienced with people they've only recently met," said Deborah Massell, an assistant professor of voice at Crane who organizes the Potsdam transmissions.

Two accomplished alumnae of the SUNY Potsdam Crane School of Music will be featured in this year's Metropolitan Opera season, and in the live transmissions. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, Class of 1992, will star as Fricka in "Das Rheingold" and "Die Walküre," two parts of the company's new staging of Wagner's Ring Cycle. Superstar soprano Renée Fleming '81 will sing the role of the Countess in Richard Strauss's "Capriccio," in her first complete performance of the part. Fleming also often serves as a host for the behind-the-scenes interviews featured before the curtain goes up and during intermission for some live transmissions.

"The subtitles make each opera easy to follow, no matter what language is sung, and lets the deeply tragic or hilarious stories spring to life. The close-ups of the fascinating staging and singing make The Met: Live in HD one-of-a-kind," Massell said.

Mark your calendars now! Here is the 2010-11 The Met: Live in HD season schedule:

• Richard Wagner's "Das Rheingold": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on Oct. 9, with an encore at 1 p.m. on Oct. 17
• Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov": Live transmission at noon on Oct. 23, with an encore at noon on Oct. 31
• Gaetano Donizetti's "Don Pasquale": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on Nov. 13, with an encore at 1 p.m. on Nov. 14
• Giuseppe Verdi's "Don Carlo": Live transmission at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, with an encore at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 12
• Giacomo Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on Jan. 8, 2011, with an encore at 1 p.m. on Jan. 30
• John Adams's "Nixon in China": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on Feb. 12, with an encore at 1 p.m. on Feb. 20
• Christoph Willibald Glück's "Iphigénie en Tauride": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on Feb. 26, with an encore at 1 p.m. on Feb. 27
• Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on March 19, with an encore at 1 p.m. on March 27
• Gioachino Rossini's "Le Comte Ory": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on April 9, with an encore at 1 p.m. on April 17
• Richard Strauss's "Capriccio": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on April 23, with an encore at 1 p.m. on May 1
• Giuseppe Verdi's "Il Trovatore": Live transmission at 1 p.m. on April 30, with an encore at 1 p.m. on May 8
• Richard Wagner's "Die Walküre": Live transmission at noon on May 14, with an encore at noon on May 15

The Metropolitan Opera's The Met: Live in HD series has won both Peabody and Emmy Awards, and sold more than 2.2 million tickets worldwide during the 2009-10 season. For the upcoming fifth season, The Met: Live in HD will expand to 1,500 theaters, and add Egypt, Portugal and Spain to its network of now 46 participating countries.

Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, Sept. 7. Prices are the lowest available in the nation: $18 for an adult, $15 for senior citizens, $12 for students and $9 for youth age 18 and under.

Tickets are available by calling the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277, or visiting the Roxy Theater or Northern Music & Video in downtown Potsdam or the CPS Box Office in the lobby of Sara M. Snell Music Theater. You can also reserve tickets online by visiting www.cpspotsdam.org.

For more information on the 2010-11 The Met: Live in HD season, visit the Metropolitan Opera website at www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_next.aspx. To learn about the extensive calendar of musical events at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures, and concerts presented by faculty, students, and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution.

-www.potsdam.edu/crane-

Posted Thursday September 16, 2010 at 03:38 pm by SUNY Potsdam
Last Updated Friday September 24, 2010 at 03:29 pm