Fathom Events presents the live transmission of Puccini’s La Rondine on Saturday, April 20, at 12:55 PM ET, as part of 2023–24 The Met: Live in HD season

Published by Fathom Events on Apr 11, 2024 11:06 AM

Tenor Jonathan Tetelman making his Met debut as Ruggero, opposite soprano Angel Blue, in this rare revival

Soprano Emily Pogorelc and tenor Bekhzod Davronov also make their Met debuts as Lisette and Prunier

DENVER (April 11, 2024)—Puccini’s passionate love story La Rondine makes a rare Met appearance as part of the 2023-24 The Met: Live in HD season, transmitted live to theaters across the country on Saturday, April 20, at 12:55PM ET.  Soprano Angel Blue stars as the French courtesan Magda, opposite tenor Jonathan Tetelman in his Met debut as Ruggero. Blue returns to the Met following her critically acclaimed performances as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen earlier this season and is also scheduled to perform the role of Liù in Puccini’s Turandot on April 11.

Tetelman, honored as Opus Klassik Award’s 2023 Break-Out Artist of the Year, has been recognized for his portrayals of Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata and Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème at Covent Garden, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the Semperoper Dresden, and Loris Ipanoff in Giordano’s Fedora at Oper Frankfurt. He is also scheduled to sing Pinkerton in the Met’s spring run of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, opposite Asmik Grigorian in her Met debut, starting April 26.

Also making their Met debuts in La Rondine are soprano Emily Pogorelc and tenor Bekhzod Davronov as Lisette and Prunier. Both have been praised by critics around the world, with Pogorelc being described as an “incisive, lively soprano” (The New York Times) and Davronov as “a fantastic voice … wonderfully elegant, and easy in its upper registers” (The Guardian).

Maestro Speranza Scappucci, who made history as the first-ever Italian woman to conduct at La Scala and made her Met debut last season, returns to lead the Met Orchestra and the cast.

Nicolas Joël’s Art Deco–inspired staging transports audiences from the heart of 1920s Parisian nightlife to a dreamy vision of the French Riviera. The creative team includes set designer Ezio Frigerio, costume designer Franca Squarciapino, and lighting designer Duane Schuler.

La Rondine was first performed at the Met on March 10, 1928. The opera has only been performed a total of 33 times on the Met stage and was last performed in 2013.

Fathom Events will also present two encores of La Rondine on April 24, at 1:00PM and 6:30PM local time.

Tickets for La Rondine are on sale through the Fathom Events website and participating theater box offices. For a complete list of theater locations, visit FathomEvents.com (participating theaters are subject to change).

The 2023–24 Live in HD season concludes with Madama Butterfly (live on May 11, with encores on May 15).  All performances will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage.

The Stars of La Rondine

Speranza Scappucci, conductor; Rome, Italy
Angel Blue, Magda; Los Angeles, California
Emily Pogorelc, Lisette; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jonathan Tetelman, Ruggero; Castro, Chile
Bekhzod Davronov, Prunier; Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Press Quotes

“Scappucci’s exuberant approach is a good fit for soprano Angel Blue, lively and charismatic in her role debut as Magda. Blue’s luscious soprano is remarkable for its sheer beauty of tone, even from top to bottom…the full-throated passion she brings to the final scene as she abandons her lover is thrilling to hear.” –Financial Times

“As Ruggero, [Tetelman] was both dashing and gentle, perfectly bashful and pitiably heartbroken. His voice is consequential but still limber, with a forward-facing buzz that carries his sound far into the house…his presence is so inviting that I missed him whenever he went offstage.” –Observer

For More Information

For further details on La Rondine please click here.

Click here and enter the password MetOpera2020 for press photos of La Rondine.

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Contact:

Colette Carey

Fathom Events

[email protected]

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met: Live in HD series is supported by Rolex.

About Fathom Events

Fathom is a recognized leader in the entertainment industry as one of the top distributors of content to movie theaters in North America. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC); Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK); and Regal, a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L), Fathom operates the largest cinema distribution.