University of Central Arkansas

New York City is singing its way into Conway! For the past 125 years, the Metropolitan Opera has established itself as the greatest opera company in the world. With the finest artists on and offstage presenting bold and vibrant interpretations of the world’s best-loved classics, seeing a show at the Met is the cultural experience of a lifetime and Captured Live from the Met at UCA is bringing all of that beauty home to Conway!

Through the magic of High-Definition broadcasting and the sponsorship of the University of Central Arkansas College of Fine Arts and Communication, the wonder of world-class opera has never been closer for Central Arkansas’ culturally curious. UCA joins 600 participating venues in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia for this series of remarkable as-if-you-were-there broadcasts, and you can be a part of it! For a fraction of the cost of a Met ticket (not to mention a plane ticket), Arkansans of all ages can attend Captured Live broadcasts of these unique events in the comfort of the Reynolds Performance Hall on the UCA campus. Be sure to join us for the triumphant second season of Metropolitan Opera HD transmissions at UCA!

Tosca Puccini

Sunday, October 11, 2:00 p.m.*

"Tosca combines Puccini's glorious musical inspiration with the melodramatic vitality of one of the great Hitchcock films," says Met Music Director James Levine, who conducts this new production. The opera tells the story of three people, a famous opera singer, a free-thinking painter, and a sadistic chief of police, caught in a net of love and politics. Soprano Karita Mattila, recently seen in last season's Live in HD presentation of Salome, sings the title role for the first time outside her native Finland. Luc Bondy, acclaimed for his imaginative theater and opera productions, directs. The cast also includes Marcelo lvarez as Cavaradossi and Juha Uusitalo as Scarpia.

Conductor: James Levine; Production: Luc Bondy; Karita Mattila, Marcelo lvarez, Juha Uusitalo, Paul Plishka

Approximate running time 3 hours 30 minutes / 2 intermissions

Aida Verdi

Sunday, October 25, 2:00 p.m.*

Monday, October 26, 7:30 p.m.*

Set in ancient Egypt, Aida is both a heartbreaking love story and an epic drama full of spectacular crowd scenes. A cast of powerful voices and a grand production bring the story to life on the Met stage (and on the HD screen). Violeta Urmana stars in the title role of the enslaved Ethiopian princess, with Dolora Zajick as her rival. Johan Botha plays Radam's, commander of the Egyptian army, and Daniele Gatti conducts. Among the score's highlights is the celebrated Triumphal March.

Conductor: Daniele Gatti; Production: Sonja Frisell; Violeta Urmana, Dolora Zajick, Johan Botha, Carlo Guelfi, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Stefan Kocn

Approximate running time 4 hours / 2 intermissions

Turandot Puccini

Sunday, November 8, 2:00 p.m.*

Monday, November 9, 7:30 p.m.*

Director Franco Zeffirelli's breathtaking production of Puccini's last opera is a favorite of the Met repertoire. Maria Guleghina plays the ruthless Chinese princess of the title, whose hatred of men is so strong that she has all suitors who can't solve her riddles beheaded. Marcello Giordani sings Calf, the unknown prince who eventually wins her love and whose solos include the famous Nessun dorma.

Conductor: Andris Nelsons; Production: Franco Zeffirelli; Maria Guleghina, Marina Poplavskaya, Marcello Giordani, Samuel Ramey

Approximate running time 3 hours 30 minutes / 2 intermissions

Les Contes d Hoffmann Offenbach

Sunday, December 20, 2:00 p.m.*

Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) directs this new production, returning after the triumph of his Met Barber of Seville (seen live in HD in the 2006-07 season). Offenbach's fictionalized take on the life and loves of the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann is a fascinating psychological journey. Met Music Director James Levine conducts a stellar star cast including Anna Netrebko as the tragic Antonia, Elīna Garanča as the ambiguous Nicklausse, and Alan Held as the demonic four villains.

Conductor:James Levine; Production: Bartlett Sher; Kathleen Kim, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Elina Garanča, Joseph Calleja, Alan Held

Approximate running time 3 hours / 2 intermissions

Der Rosenkavalier Strauss

Sunday, January 10, 2:00 p.m.*

Strauss's comic masterpiece of love and intrigue in 18th-century Vienna stars Rene Fleming as the aristocratic Marschallin and Susan Graham in the trouser role of her young lover. Music Director James Levine conducts a cast that also includes Kristinn Sigmundsson and Thomas Allen.

Conductor: James Levine; Production: Nathaniel Merrill; Rene Fleming, Susan Graham, Christine Sch'fer, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen, Kristinn Sigmundsson

Approximate running time 3 hours / 2 intermissions

Carmen Bizet

Sunday, January 17, 2:00 p.m.*

Tuesday, January 19, 7:30 p.m.*

One of the most popular operas of all time, Carmen "is about sex, violence, and racism and its corollary: freedom," says Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre about his new production of Bizet's drama. "It is one of the inalienably great works of art. It's sexy, in every sense. And I think it should be shocking." Elīna Garanča sings the seductive gypsy of the title for the first time at the Met, opposite Roberto Alagna as the obsessed Don Jos.

Conductor: Yannick Nzet-Sguin; Production: Richard Eyre; Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, Mariusz Kwiecien

Approximate running time 4 hours / 2 intermissions

Simon Boccanegra Verdi

Sunday, February 7, 2:00 p.m.*

Four decades into a legendary Met career, tenor Plcido Domingo makes history singing the title role in Verdi's gripping political thriller, which is written for a baritone. Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, and James Morris are his co-stars in this moving and tragic story of a father and his lost daughter. James Levine conducts.

Conductor: James Levine; Production: Giancarlo del Monaco; Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plcido Domingo, James Morris

Approximate running time 3 hours 40 minutes / 2 intermissions

Hamlet Thomas

Sunday, March 28, 2:00 p.m.*

Monday, March 29, 7:30 p.m. *

The works of Shakespeare have inspired more operatic adaptations than any other writer's. Simon Keenlyside and Natalie Dessay bring their extraordinary acting and singing skills to two of the Bard's most unforgettable characters in this new production of Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet. For the role of Ophelia, the French composer created an extended mad scene that is among the greatest in opera.

Conductor: Louis Langr'e; Production: Patrice Caurier/Moshe Leiser; Natalie Dessay, Jennifer Larmore, Toby Spence, Simon Keenlyside, James Morris

Approximate running time 3 hours 45 minutes / 1 intermission

Armida Gioachino Rossini

Sunday, May 2, 2:00 p.m. *

This mythical story of a sorceress who enthralls men in her island prison has inspired operatic settings by a multitude of composers, including Gluck, Haydn, and Dvork. Ren'e Fleming stars in the title role of Rossini's version, opposite no fewer than six tenors. Tony Award winner Mary Zimmerman returns to direct this new production of a work she describes as a buried treasure, a box of jewels.  The fanciful and magical tale, Zimmerman says, has an epic, enchanted quality and a tremendous visual element.

Conductor: Riccardo Frizza; Production: Mary Zimmerman; Ren'e Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Bruce Ford, Jos Manuel Zapata, Barry Banks, Kobie van Rensburg

Approximate running time 4 hours 20 minutes / 2 intermissions

*All times are encore presentations of an earlier live performance.

**Cast members are subject to change.

All shows made possible by the UCA Arts Fee. For more information on UCA Met Opera transmissions, contact the College of Fine Arts and Communication office at 501-450-3293.  To learn more about the Met Opera, visit www.metopera.org.

University of Central Arkansas
College of Fine Arts and Communication
201 Donaghey Avenue, Harrin Hall 222
Conway, AR 72035-0001
Phone: (501) 450-3293
Fax: (501) 450-3296