At the first broadcast on the 15th December, viewers will see and hear Romeo and Juliet by Charles Gounod with Anna Netrebko, Roberto Alagna, and under the baton of Placido Domingo.
The project of live transmissions in High Definition picture quality (HD) and Surround Digital Sound 5.1 has been unveiled by the Metropolitan opera together with Czech non-profit organization Musical Theatre Society (JHD). Ticket to the cinema costs 300 CZK, or if you prepay five or more transmissions, you will pay only 250 CZK for a performance.
Eight live transmissions are planned for this season. They will be broadcasted successively with one or two performances a month. The last transmission is planned for 26th April 2008. Many specialists regard this form of transmission as music of the future. It will probably be more frequently and should appear at more places. A similar, but a unique transmission took place in Prague in 2003 when Slovanský dům Cinema as one of many from around the world, released a live transmission of a David Bowie concert.
Hundreds of thousands of viewers within a single season
The Metropolitan Opera transmits its performances not only in the USA but also to Japan where, however, due to the time lag, viewers see them only from a recording. In this way live opera transmissions and their recordings have been seen by over 320 thousand viewers in almost 240 cinemas in the North America, Europe and Japan. The highest audience figure, for viewers sharing their experience with the Metropolitan Opera visitors, exceeded 55 thousand. This number of viewers saw Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera The Barber of Seville, the transmission of which took place in October.
Czech listeners could hear the music from the Metropolitan Opera in live broadcasts thanks to the Czech radio. Soon, they will also be able to see the picture.
In Prague, as with other parts of the world there are only a few tickets left for most of the performances. This season transmissions from the Metropolitan Opera will be transmitted to 600 cinemas, universities and schools in the North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. It results in, thanks to the extension, over a million viewers to see the transmissions.
For more details about the programme see: www.kinosvetozor.cz