MET MASTERSINGERS: René Pape



On Wednesday, October 27, the Metropolitan Opera Guild presents the second event in its exciting new series: “Met Mastersingers”. The series’ executive producer Paul Gruber invites celebrated bass René Pape on stage at New York’s Town Hall for an informal conversation about his life and career. Highlights from the charismatic bass’s filmed performances will be screened, and the audience will have a chance to hear Pape sing some of his favorite songs.  BNY Mellon Wealth Management is the corporate sponsor of the event.



Full details of “Met Mastersingers: René Pape” and other upcoming lectures and public events presented by the Metropolitan Opera Guild follow below. 





Upcoming lectures and public events from the Metropolitan Opera Guild



Wednesday, October 27 at 8pm

MET MASTERSINGERS: RENÉ PAPE

The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, New York City

The Met’s Boris Godunov will be onstage with Paul Gruber to discuss his work, watch video excerpts of his performances, and sing some favorite songs.

Tickets are $45 for Guild members and Met patrons, and $75 for all others.  Following the program, join the Guild for an artists’ reception with champagne and dessert: $150 for premium seating and reception.  For tickets, call (212) 769-7009, or order online at www.metguild.org.



Friday, October 1 at 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Met Talks: New Productions of the 2010-11 Season

Boris Godunov

Metropolitan Opera House

Presented by Sarah Billinghurst

Mussorgsky’s masterful tale of the ambitions and struggles of a nation and its ruler returns to the Met in a new production directed by Stephen Wadsworth, with bass René Pape in the monumental title role.  Met Assistant Manager Sarah Billinghurst hosts this conversation with performers and production personnel.

Price: $20; Met subscribers: $15; Guild members: $10



Saturday, October 2 at 11am – 12:15pm

OPERA BOOT CAMP: BASIC TRAINING

Opera Evolution: 1600 to 1800

Presented by Dottie Allen

What is opera and where did it come from?  Who were Monteverdi, Handel, and Mozart, and why are they important to this splendid synergy of art forms?  Find out on a tour of opera’s first 200 years.

Price: $16.00; $20 at door subject to availability



Sunday, October 3 at 4pm – 5:15pm

Beyond Boot Camp: Pieces of Production

Setting the Scene: Tricks and Techniques of Technical Theater

Presented by David Ellertson

Creating the right mise-en-scène requires careful consideration, plenty of planning, and more than one trick of technical theater.  Learn more about the process behind the props, sets, and lights that grace the stage through this enlightening presentation.

Price: $16.00; $20 at door subject to availability



Monday, October 4 at 6pm – 7:15pm

OPERA OUTLOOKS: PRE-PERFORMANCE LECTURES

Das Rheingold: Voices from Valhalla

Presented by John J. H. Muller

Das Rheingold sets the scene for the epic music drama that unfolds through the course of Wagner’s masterful Ring Cycle.  In this first installment of the Ring, the ambitions of gods, giants, and dwarves conflict as the fortress Valhalla is built.  John J. H. Muller paves the way for musical progress through this enlightening examination of leitmotifs and orchestration.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Saturday, October 9 at 11am – 12:15pm

OPERA BOOT CAMP: BASIC TRAINING

Opera Revolution: 1800 to Today

Presented by Dottie Allen

Who were Wagner, Verdi, and Puccini, and how did their revolutionary ideas propel opera into superstardom?  Learn how opera has continually transformed itself since the 19th century, and what it’s doing to stay vital and relevant today.

Price: $16.00; $20 at door subject to availability



Saturday, October 9 at 1pm ET (expected running time: three hours)

The Met: Live in HD

Wagner’s Das Rheingold

The Met’s Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series of live performance transmissions to movie

theaters around the world continues for its fifth season, featuring a record twelve live broadcasts. Don’t miss the chance to experience the Met live at your local movie theater!

For more information, visit metopera.org/hdlive



Sunday, October 10 at 4pm – 5:15pm

Beyond Boot Camp: Pieces of Production

Creating Character through Costumes

Presented by Bettina Bierly

Clothes make the man, but who creates the concept for the clothes and costumes we see on stage?  Learn more about the decisions that determine the dress, and the talented tailors and skilled seamstresses who take a costume from concept to completion.

Price: $16.00; $20 at door subject to availability



Tuesday, October 12 at 6pm – 7:15pm

THE SINGERS’ STUDIO: CANDID AND CASUAL CONVERSATION

In Studio: Anna Netrebko

Kaplan Penthouse, 10th Floor Samuel B. and David Rose Building

Presented by F. Paul Driscoll

Don’t miss the chance to hear in-person previews of future Opera News online exclusives!  Anna Netrebko – dubbed “the reigning new diva of the early 21st century” by the Associated Press – graces the cover of Opera News’s annual diva issue this November.  Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll interviews the Russian soprano about her exciting season, including the Live in HD debut of her charming Norina in the Met’s Don Pasquale.

Price: $30; $35 at door subject to availability



Thursday, October 14 at 2pm – 3:15 pm

Opera’s American revolution: Grand Opera Meets the Great White Way

Historical Blends and Trends: The Operatic Roots of Operetta and Modern Musical Theater

Presented by James O’Leary

From commedia dell’arte and the Opéra Comique and on through the history of staged musical performance, composers have woven together spoken text and song-like arias with a comic plot, keeping the audience in stitches.  See and hear the evolution of Singspiel and the Viennese tradition through to the 20th century.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Saturday, October 16 at 11am – 12:15pm

OPERA BOOT CAMP: BASIC TRAINING

The Opera, Seen from Behind the Scenes

Presented by Laura Day Giarolo

Not everyone involved in staging an opera gets to take a curtain call – more than 1,500 individuals are responsible for every opera performance at the Met.  We’ll talk shop and get to know the many off-stage roles that give direction and bring a production from page to stage.

Price: $16.00; $20 at door subject to availability



Sunday, October 17 at 4am – 6pm

Masterly Singing

Staging the Scene

Presented by Dona D. Vaughn

These workshops and master classes probe areas of performance and preparation vital to the development of young performers, while showcasing opera’s most valuable assets: the directors, coaches, conductors, and singers of our stage.  “Park and bark” performances are a thing of the past; now opera singers must clearly convey the emotional complexity and physical prowess of their characters.  Acclaimed director Dona D. Vaughn coaches operatic singing actors on the art of

creating a character for the stage.

Price: $20; $25 at door subject to availability



Monday, October 18 at 5pm – 6:15pm

OPERA OUTLOOKS: PRE-PERFORMANCE LECTURES

All About Boris: Murder, Mayhem, and Music

Presented by Dr. Harlow Robinson

A timeless portrayal of political ambition set in Moscow around 1600, Modest Mussorgsky’s majestic Boris Godunov uses history to illuminate the present.  As Stephen Wadsworth’s much anticipated new production takes the Met stage, Dr. Harlow Robinson discusses Boris – both real man and legend – and the opera’s richly layered musical world.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Thursday, October 21 at 2pm – 3:15 pm

Opera’s American revolution: Grand Opera Meets the Great White Way

A Fork in the Family Tree: American Opera in Transition

Presented by James O’Leary

Fascinating rhythms and melodies come together in the early 20th century through works by George Gershwin and Kurt Weill.  With professional pedigrees stemming from Nadia Boulanger and Ferruccio Busoni, respectively, these composers each strove to create a quintessentially American opera that could be both commercially and artistically successful.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Saturday, October 23 at 12pm ET (expected running time: five hours)

The Met: Live in HD

Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov

The Met’s Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series of live performance transmissions to movie

theaters around the world continues for its fifth season, featuring a record twelve live broadcasts. Don’t miss the chance to experience the Met live at your local movie theater!

For more information, visit metopera.org/hdlive



Monday, October 25 at 6pm – 7pm

Verdi’s Touch of the Poet: Seminal Works Inspired by Byron, Hugo, Schiller, and Shakespeare

Verdi and Byron

Moderated by Jesse Cohen; presented by Dr. John Louis DiGaetani and Jane Marsh

The literary works of Lord Byron inspired many composers, including Donizetti, Berlioz, and Wolf, as well as Verdi.  This examination of poetic and musical phrases will focus on Verdi’s interpretation in I Due Foscari and Il Corsaro.

Price: $20.00; $25 at door subject to availability



Monday, October 26 at 6pm – 7:15pm

OPERA OUTLOOKS: PRE-PERFORMANCE LECTURES

Into the Fire: The Twists and Turns of Il Trovatore

Presented by Jane Marsh

Il Trovatore is notorious for its convoluted storyline, but Verdi’s strikingly powerful music sweeps away all dramatic improbabilities.  Jane Marsh serves as your musical guide through the twists and turns of this opera.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Thursday, October 28 at 2pm – 3:15 pm

Opera’s American revolution: Grand Opera Meets the Great White Way

Opera Moves Uptown: Music Theater from 42nd Street to Lincoln Center

Presented by James O’Leary

The West Side of Manhattan was the scene of many important developments in music theater, largely sparked by the works of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim.  All along Broadway, from 42nd Street to Lincoln Center, these composers have created works that combine the rich tradition of opera and the polish of classical composition with enough sass and satire to suit the attitude of the 20th century audience.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Saturday, October 30 at 10am – 11:15pm

Beyond Boot Camp: For the Love of Opera

Boy Meets Girl

Presented by Laura Day Giarolo

Love at first sight can wear many guises, but the afterglow of affection is undeniably heard through arias and love duets from such romantic classics as La Bohème, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, La Fille du Régiment, and Die Zauberflöte.

Price: $16.00; $20 at door subject to availability



Saturday, October 30 at 2pm – 3:15pm

OPERA EXPLORERS

Making Flute Magic

Young children (aged 5-8) discover the operatic arts with their families through these innovative and interactive workshops, tied to the Met’s abridged English-language production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  By combining hands-on experiential learning with physical and vocal activity, workshop participants learn to follow a complex operatic plot, and understand the power of music, acting, and design to tell a story.  Workshop registration includes an orchestra seat to a Met performance of The Magic Flute.  As this is a family workshop, at least one adult and one child aged 5-8 must be in each party.

Price: $60; $75 at the door subject to availability



Sunday, October 31 at 4pm – 5:15pm

Family Ties: Verdi’s Fathers and Daughters

Father-Daughter Dynamics and Duets in Luisa Miller and Simon Boccanegra

Presented by Jane Marsh

These figlie remain loyal to their fathers through it all: love interests, political intrigue, family separation, and deceit.  Jane Marsh kicks off this series by delving into the father-daughter dynamics of Simon Boccanegra and Luisa Miller to reveal some of the most moving and musically inventive moments in all of Verdi’s operas.

Price: $16; $20 at door subject to availability



Weekdays at 3:30pm and most Sundays at 10:30am and 1:30pm

BACKSTAGE TOURS

Go behind the scenes for an exclusive look at what it takes to make onstage magic at the Met!

Tours begin and end in the Met lobby during the Met performance season.  Backstage Tours offer a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the Met, and a chance to visit the expansive scenic and carpentry shops, where sets are built and painted; the costume, wardrobe, make-up, and wig departments that prep and primp today’s star singers for the stage; rehearsal rooms where productions first take shape; the massive stage complex where the action comes to life; and the crown jewel auditorium.

Price: $16; Guild members: $14; students: $10; $20 at door subject to availability



All events will be held in the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Opera Learning Center on the 6th floor of the Samuel B. & David Rose building at Lincoln Center, unless otherwise noted.



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