LIST: Operas premiering in the Philippines until 2023
MANILA, Philippines — Good news for opera lovers!
Two years after the pandemic forced it to lie low, the halls of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) will ring anew with the sound of operatic arias.
CCP relaunched Met Opera in HD Season 7 in partnership with the Metropolitan Opera of New York, Filipinas Opera Society Foundation Inc., and Ayala Cinemas. The series features one Met Opera in high-definition production monthly in Greenbelt 3, Makati until February 2023.
Here are the upcoming productions:
'Carmen' by Georges Bizet on October 4, 6:30 p.m.
This version of the time-honored production stars mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine as opera’s ultimate seductress, opposite tenor Roberto Alagna, who played José in 2010.
Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak sings Micaela with bass Alexander Vinogradov as bullfighter Escamillo. Louis Langrée conducts.
'La Traviata' by Giuseppe Verdi on November 15, 6:30 p.m.
In his first Live in HD appearance as the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s new production, featuring an 18th-century setting that changes with the seasons.
Soprano Diana Damrau is tragic heroine Violetta, and tenor Juan Diego Flórez returns to the Met for the first time in five seasons to sing her hapless lover Alfredo. Baritone Quinn Kelsey is Alfredo’s father Germont, who ruins their love.
'Dialogues des Carmelites' by Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc on December 6, 6:30 p.m.
Nézet-Séguin heads an ensemble in Poulenc’s modern masterpiece of faith and martyrdom. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard is young Blanche de La Force, opposite Karita Mattila as First Prioress.
'Turandot' on December 9 and 11
Giacomo Puccini’s well-loved opera "Turandot" is coming live to the CCP Main Theater on December 9, 8 p.m., and December 11, 2 p.m. This production is in cooperation with the Filipinas Opera Society Foundation Inc. and the Rustan Group of Companies.
'La Fille Du Regiment' by Gaetano Donizetti on January 10, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena present an explosion of vocal fireworks on stage. Baritone Maurizio Muraro is Sergeant Sulplice, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as Marquise of Berkenfield. Enrique Mazzola conducts.
'Samson et Dalila' by Camille Saint-Saëns on February 7, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
Mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca and tenor Roberto Alagna play the title roles in this biblical epic. Bass baritone Laurent Naouri plays the High Priest. Baritone Elchin Azizov is Philistine king Abimelech, while bass Dmitry Belosselskiy plays the Old Hebrew. Tony award recipient Darko Tresnjak makes his directorial debut for Met. Sir Mark Elder conducts.
