Art Alert: Metropolitan Opera's live transmission of Madama Butterfly in Cairo, Alexandria
Ahram Online, , Wednesday 30 Mar 2016
The MET Opera live HD transmissions launched in December 2006 and gained a total of almost one million viewers worldwide in its second season


The upcoming live transmission from New York’s Metropolitan Opera will present Madama Butterfly by Italian composer Giacomo Puccinion 2 April at the Cairo Opera House and Bibliotheca Alexandrina concurrently.

The Metropolitan production of Madama Butterfly first premiered in 2006.

The current production stars renowned Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais as Cio-Cio-San, and French tenor Roberto Alagna as Pinkerton.

The opera is directed by Oscar-winning British film director and playwright Anthony Minghella.

It centres on "a young Japanese geisha who clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage," reads the description on Met Opera's official website.

"The story triggers ideas about cultural and sexual imperialism for people far removed from the opera house, and film, Broadway, and popular culture in general have riffed endlessly on it."

The Metropolitan Orchestra will be conducted by Karel Mark Chichon.

In October 2010, Egypt introduced the live HD transmissions of Met Opera at the Red Sea’s El-Gouna and the Cairo Opera House. In October 2015, Bibliotheca Alexandrina joined the network of international screenings.

This year marks the 10th season of the international high definition live transmissions from New York.

The initiative was launched in December 2006 and became very popular, gaining a total of almost one million viewers worldwide in its second season.

Today, over 70 countries across six continents – over 2,000 screens, including 750 in the USA – have joined the network.

It is important to add that the licence for Met’s transmissions in Egypt is generously supported by the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development and the Mahmoud Abdalla Foundation.

Programme:
Saturday 2 April, 7pm
Main Hall, Cairo Opera House, Zamalek, Cairo
Small Theatre, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria

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