2010 Metropolitan Opera Summer Events

Most classical music organizations take the summer off, but thankfully, some continue to offer great performances during the hottest months of the year - and the Met is one of them. The 2010 Met Opera summer series is made up of three separate events (which I will break down in further detail below): the Summer Recital Series, Summer HD Festival, and the Summer HD Encore. The Met's Summer Recital Series is a series of five free concerts featuring renowned singers. The HD Festival will show ten Met HD broadcasts free of charge. And lastly, the Summer HD Encore will rebroadcast this past season's HD Live operas.

Now in its second season, this popular concert series starting on July 12, will present five free concerts as part of New York City's concerts in the parks program. One concert will be performed in one park in each of the city's five boroughs. This year's artists include famed baritone, Nathan Gunn, soprano, Susanna Phillips, as well as pianist, Jonathan Kelly. See below for a complete listing of the five performances.

For those of you who missed out on this season's Live in HD broadcasts, don't worry. Now's your chance to see what you missed! The Met's HD Encore will rebroadcast six popular performances from past seasons to over 400 theaters across the United States. The rebroadcast performances include Verdi's Aida, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Puccini’s La Bohème, Puccini’s Turandot, and Bizet’s Carmen.

Visit the Metropolitan Opera Summer Events.

Also in it's second year, the Met's HD Festival will present ten riveting Live in HD performances from past seasons for ten consecutive days in Lincoln Center Plaza. Just like the Summer Recital Series, the HD Festival is completely free! The festival will kick off on August 28, at 8 PM, with Puccini's Tosca, starring Karita Mattila. Every night thereafter, you'll be able to catch the following performances:

• Mozart's The Magic Flue
• Strauss's Der Rosenklavier
• Adams's Doctor Atomic
• Offenbach's Les Contes d’Hoffmann
• Puccini's La Bohème
• Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel
• Puccini's Turandot
• Verdi's Aida
• and Bizet's Carmen.