The Lyric Opera of Chicago may have fired soprano Angela Gheorghiu from its production of La Boheme for missing too many rehearsals. But Gheorghiu will indeed sing the role of Mimi in the Windy City this season. And she's guaranteed to be flat—on a big flat screen that is.
Gheorghiu is just one of many opera luminaries slated to sing in the Metropolitan Opera's second season of Live High Definition digital simulcasts that transmit the live New York performance to movie theaters around the world. Last season's schedule of six simulcast operas proved to be a resounding success—so much so that this year's line up has been bumped up to eight operas and the number of screens has tripled.
That is going to be a boon for Chicago opera fans who schlepped out to Crystal Lake, Lincolnshire and Woodridge to see the Met HD simulcasts last season. This season has added Chicago-area theaters like the AMC River East 21, the Kerasotes City North 14 and the Century Evanston 18 in addition to other Illinois cities like Niles, Naperville, Barrington and more.
Alas, the ticket prices have gone up, but that's a small price to pay considering that ticket prices at the Lyric Opera of Chicago are $31-$187. Though nothing can beat hearing a live opera performance, the Met HD simulcasts offer the next best thing.
The 2007-08 Met HD line-up includes:
—Gounod's Roméo et Juliette featuring Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna. Plácido Domingo conducts. In French with English subtitles. Noon Dec. 15.
—Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel featuring Christine Schäfer and Alice Coote in Richard Jones' staging ( previously seen at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2001 ) . Vladimir Jurowski conducts. In English with English subtitles. Noon Jan. 1.
—Verdi's Macbeth featuring Maria Guleghina and Lado Ataneli in Adrian Noble's new modern-dress production. James Levine conducts. In Italian with English subtitles. 12:30 p.m. Jan. 12.
—Puccini's Manon Lescaut featuring Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani. James Levine conducts. In Italian with English subtitles. Noon Feb. 16.
—Wagner's Tristan und Isolde featuring Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner. James Levine conducts. In German with English subtitles. 12:30 p.m. March 22.
—Puccini's La Boheme featuring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas in the Franco Zefirelli production. Nicola Luisotti conducts. In Italian with English subtitles. 12:30 p.m. April 5.
—Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment ( The Daughter of the Regiment ) featuring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez in a new production by Laurent Pelly. Marco Armiliato conducts. In French with English subtitles. 12:30 p.m. April 26.
Tickets are $22; $20 for seniors; $15 for kids. Sunday encore screenings follow each Saturday screening at select theaters. To buy, visit www.fathomevents.com, www.metopera.org or each theater box office.