The MET Live in HD: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (Rossini) – With Pre-Opera Talk
May 31, 2025
Showtime:
1 PM
Pre-Opera Talk by Dr. Morton Achter @ 11:45 AM
Following each performance, there will be a brief “post-opera” discussion
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024–25 Live in HD season comes to a close with a live transmission of Rossini’s effervescent comedy on May 31. Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside American tenor Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Moldovan baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the ingenious barber of Seville, with Hungarian bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio rounding out the principal cast. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts Bartlett Sher’s madcap production.
Approx. run time: 3 hours and 33 minutes with 1 intermission
Pre-Opera Talk: An adaptation of the first and most scintillating play of the “Figaro” trilogy by Pierre Beaumarchais, Rossini’s Barber was admired by both Beethoven and Verdi; the latter called it “the finest opera buffa in existence.” What makes this work deserving of such high praise?
Dr. Morton Atcher:
This is the fifteenth season of The Met: Live in HD for which Morton Achter, a resident of Topsham and formerly of New Harbor, will present a series of pre-opera talks prior to selected broadcasts at the Lincoln Theater. A retired professor, Dr. Achter has taught about, produced, and directed opera and other stage genres for over sixty-five years at the professional, college and community levels. Educated at the Eastman School of Music and M.I.T., and holding a Ph.D. in music and theater history from the University of Michigan, locally he has directed productions for the Lincoln County Community Theater, River Company, Round Top Center for the Arts, and Bath’s Chocolate Church Arts Center. He has served on the Board of Directors for Midcoast Senior College in Brunswick, and has offered music- and theater-related courses for the organization since 2010.
This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.
The 2024-25 Schedule is subject to change per The Met Live in HD
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