On Monday evening, the Metropolitan Opera celebrated its 125th anniversary season with acts from three different operas that featured the illustrious Renée Fleming. According to the September 24, 2008 review in the New York Times, she sang beautifully as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Manon in Massenet's Manon and the Countess in Strauss's Capriccio. She was resplendently attired by the some of the world's most famous fashion designers including Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano. I wonder if she was wearing the new perfume La Voce by Renée Fleming, a limited-edition fragrance by Coty which was launched for this occasion.
Millions of people were able to view this performance courtesy of the “Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD,” a series of performance transmissions shown live in high definition in movie theaters throughout the world. This forward, creative thinking by the Met is an excellent way to reach and educate the masses about opera and to nurture new audiences. We in Fairfield County are fortunate to be able to take advantage of this new technology at Fairfield University's Quick Center; eleven live performances will be shown throughout the year. If you can't get there for the show, you may be able to catch it later on PBS or DVD.
Of course, there is the old standby, the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday matinee broadcasts. As the longest-running continuous classical music program in radio history, it will feature 22 live broadcasts from November 29, 2008 through April 25, 2009. The 78th season begins with Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, starring Marcello Giordani, Susan Graham and conductor James Levine.
Besides compact discs, you may also listen via streaming audio on the internet.
I hope you'll enjoy this performance by Ms. Fleming of Mozart's Exultate Jubilate: