Review of the Metropolitan Opera's New HD Movie Theater Broadcasts

The Metropolitan Opera has recently embarked on a major effort to make opera new in America. This campaign has included a commitment to creating numerous new productions of old operas, a reinvigorated outreach program—particularly through the Internet—and an exploration of multiple new media for the presentation of old operas. (Thus far, the campaign does not appear to be aimed at making new American operas.) The most striking development to date has been the Met's attempt to associate opera with film in a variety of ways, both in production and marketing. building on previous successful collaborations with such directors as Franco Zeffirelli, the Met is repeatedly turning to film directors for new productions. The Met's embrace of the cinematic world was particularly trumpeted in the press for Anthony Minghella's Madama Butterfly— brought from the English National Opera and screened live on opening night in September 2006 outside lincoln Center and at Times Square—and for Zhang Yimou's staging of the December 2006 world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor, the opera that will serve as my primary example in this review. The number of ways in which we can now experience Met productions through multiple media is quite extensive and includes live performances in the opera house, "live in HD" screenings and "encores" at movie theaters, the televisual experience of PBS relay broadcasts and of recorded copies at home, and the live and/or rebroadcast radio, satellite radio, and webcast transmissions at virtually any location.