Alagna and Gheorghiu to perform in NY park
AP, Apr 23, 2008 4:00 pm PDTThe Metropolitan Opera will present the husband-and-wife team of Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu in concert at Brooklyn's Prospect Park on June 20 and will scrap its traditional series of outdoor performances of full operas.
The Met expects to draw up to 150,000 people when the tenor and soprano sing arias and duets by Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and Massenet. Ion Martin will conduct the concert, which will be streamed on the Internet and broadcast by local radio.
While the Met's operas in Manhattan's Central Park featured Luciano Pavarotti in 1980 and 1988, and Placido Domingo in 1981 and 1987, few stars have appeared in recent years at the outdoor events.
"The formula for the Met concerts in the parks had become somewhat routine," Met general manager Peter Gelb said Wednesday. "To make a parks concert not routine requires some major singing talent. In order to attract stars on the level on Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, it's necessary to present them with something that would be a vehicle they would be excited by."
Gelb anticipates that if this concert is successful, there will be similar events in future years with other singers.
Gheorghiu and Alagna were married on the Met's stage by then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1996 and are scheduled to appear there together next season in Puccini's "La Rondine," which opens on New Year's Eve.
___
On the Net:
More Artist News
Luciano Pavarotti tribute hits cinemas, DVD
Dec 1, 2008 5:00 pm PST
The Luciano Pavarotti tribute concert staged recently in the world heritage site of Petra, Jordan, in front of only 500 people, now will be available to a much wider audience. A 90-minute filmed version of the October 12 show will screen ...
Met to offer online service for opera lovers
Sep 24, 2008 4:00 am PDT
Legendary performances at the Metropolitan Opera of "La Boheme" with Luciano Pavarotti and "Otello" with Placido Domingo will soon be available over the Internet for the first time. The Met plans to offer online subscriptions to 120 audio...
Pavarotti to be remembered around the world
Sep 5, 2008 8:00 am PDT
The world will mark the first anniversary of the death of Luciano Pavarotti with a series of concerts, an exhibit and other events, organizers and his family announced Friday. Among the tributes planned for the celebrated tenor, who died ...
Pavarotti lip-synched last performance
Apr 7, 2008 6:00 pm PDT
Luciano Pavarotti, in severe pain months before his cancer diagnosis, lip-synched his last performance, according to the maestro who conducted the aria at the opening ceremony of the Turin Olympics. The late tenor's manager said Monday the...
Tenor: Pavarotti can't be replaced
Jan 3, 2008 7:05 am PST
The Three Tenors will never re-form with a new singer replacing the late Luciano Pavarotti, tenor Jose Carreras says. The 61-year-old Spanish singer, who is visiting Australia to give concerts at the Sydney Opera House, said in Thursday'...
