IMPORTANT: Please note
that we are offering all four NY Tours in this Fall Brochure,
as the MET is promoting their entire 2008 – 2009 season
now. The MARCH GALA WEEKEND and the MET ‘RING CYCLE’
will be repeated in our next brochure unless they are completely
sold out by then.
Under
the dynamic young General Manager Peter Gelb and the indefatigable
Music Director James Levine, the MET has announced a thrilling
2008 – 2009 season. We have carefully chosen four NY
Holidays to include the most exciting events at the MET as
well as performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
Each of our programs includes a Gala Benefit or new production
at the MET.
Our
September Holiday features the beloved American soprano Renée
Fleming in the MET’s dazzling Opening Night. In November,
our Fall Weekend will include the new production of Berlioz’
rarely staged French landmark, La Damnation de Faust and the
Season Premiere of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades.
Our March Holiday will culminate with the MET’s star-studded
125th Anniversary Gala, a once-only event which every opera
aficionado will want to attend. And finally, the MET’s
glorious staging of Wagner’s towering RING CYCLE will
mark the closing of the season in early May, marking the last
revival of this romantic production.
On one of our mornings, a generous continental breakfast in
a private suite of the hotel. During breakfast, Mrs. Bridget
Paolucci will deliver an orientation lecture on one of the
operas scheduled for the weekend. Mrs. Paolucci is a well-known
New York music critic, lecturer and journalist whose musical
analyses have become a trademark of our programs. We are extremely
proud of our continuing association with her. (Bridget’s
lectures will be on ‘La Gioconda’ in September,
‘The Queen of Spades’ in November, and ‘La
Sonnambula’ in March. The RING Tour will NOT include
a breakfast/lecture, as we prefer to offer pre-theatre dinners
prior to the long operas.)
A
cocktail buffet will be enjoyed on the first evening of each
Holiday, which will provide an opportunity to meet other members
of the Tour. Our party will be in a private room of the Club.
On our last evening, dinner will be arranged in one of the
interesting restaurants in the Lincoln Center or the Broadway
theatre area. Our recent meals have been served at Josephina’s
and O'Neal's directly across the street from Lincoln Center.
For imaginative and high quality cuisine, efficient and pleasant
service, and the most convenient location to our performances,
Josephina’s and O'Neals have no rivals. We have also
enjoyed the French cuisine of Le Biarritz on 57th street equidistant
from Carnegie Hall and the MET, and the convenience of pre-theatre
meals at Café Europe and Le Pain Quotidien on 7th avenue
across from the NY Athletic Club.
We
are pleased to offer you a Guest Pass to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street. Your pass will
allow for free entry at your own convenience into all permanent
galleries, such as the sensational Lila Acheson Wallace Wing
of 20th century painting and sculpture and the extensive collection
of French Impressionists.
Transfers
are included for all of our performances at Lincoln Center.
(The Club is within easy walking distance of both Carnegie
Hall and the Rose Theater at Columbus Circle.)
Four
varied performances are included in September, November and
March, and all four performances of THE RING are included
in May. All MET Opera performances are now performed with
MET TITLES optionally displayed on the seat in front of you,
which has proven to be enormously popular.
