Opera Bites: Renee Fleming featured in Opening Night Gala

High-definition broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera will be back at the Town Plaza Cinema this fall and this season there will be 11 performances on the big screen. All performances will be on Saturday afternoons with the exception of the first one.

The season starts at 5:30 p.m. Monday with a broadcast of the Opening Night Gala; the featured singer will be the beautiful and very popular Renee Fleming. She will sing scenes from three operas.

The evening begins with the second act of Verdi's "La traviata." The first scene is set in a country house near Paris. Violetta and Alfredo are living there together, but they have run out of money. Violetta has been selling her possessions in order to support them. Alfredo leaves to go to Paris to try to raise some money. His father, the elder Germont arrives and tries to convince Violetta to leave his son. Heartbroken, she finally consents to do so. She leaves and Alfredo returns where he is confronted by his father. The young man then thinks that Violetta has deserted him and he rushes back to Paris. Scene 2 takes place in an elegant salon in Paris. There is a party in progress. When Alfredo appears and sees Violetta, he throws the money he has won at cards at her feet and accuses her of being a courtesan. His father is horrified by this behavior as the act comes to a close.

The second part of the gala will be Act Ill of Massenet's "Manon." The first scene is a party in the streets of Paris. Manon sings of her frivolous life but then she learns that her former lover, des Grieux, is about to take holy orders in the seminary of St. Suplice. The party continues, but Manon decides to go to the seminary to see des Grieux. Scene 2 is in the chapel of St. Suplice. Des Grieux's father is there, and he is trying to persuade his son to leave the seminary. He departs and Manon appears. In one of the most passionate of all love scenes in opera (I love this part of the scene!) the two lovers decide that they cannot live without each other.

The third part of the evening will be the final scene from Richard Strauss's final opera, "Capriccio." Here is how "Opera News" describes this opera: "'Capriccio' consists of 145 minutes of six people arguing which is more important — words or music — abetted by two Italian singers who give a gloriously dopey demonstration of operatic convention." The final scene could have been written for Miss Fleming. It takes place in a salon, lit only by moonlight. The Countess enters and the stage is set for one of Strauss's most elegant scenes; it is made up of a hymn in praise of the beauty of the soprano voice. The song makes pretty clear where the composer's sympathy lies in the argument between words and music. As the scene draws to a close, the Countess looks into the mirror and realizes that she cannot make the choice that will give the opera an ending, either alternative seems trivial. The major-domo solves the problem by announcing that dinner is served.

The opening night gala will be a glamorous affair; Miss Fleming's costumes are being designed by Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano and Christian Lacroix. The other singers for the evening are Ramon Vargas, Thomas Hampson and Dwayne Croft. I hope you will join me for this special night at the Metropolitan Opera.