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The Metropolitan Opera's annual Summer HD Festival will return to Lincoln Center Plaza in New York City starting tonight, Friday, August 22, through September 1.
The free festival will feature ten screenings from the Met's Live in HD series, projected onto a large screen on the façade of the opera house. These will include three new productions from the 2024-25 season and beloved classics, including Verdi's Aida, Beethoven's Fidelio, Strauss's Salome, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Jeanine Tesori's Grounded, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, Puccini's Tosca, Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Puccini's La Fanciulla del West.
A special 8 p.m. screening of the 2023 film Maestro, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper, alongside Carey Mulligan, will open the festival tonight, co-presented with Film at Lincoln Center and Netflix. Cooper also co-wrote the film with Josh Singer. It won Gotham, Grammy, music editing, makeup and hair stylist awards, and was the 2024 AFI movie of the year.
For each Summer HD Festival presentation, over 2,500 seats will be available on the plaza on a first-come, first-served basis. No tickets are required, and there are no rain dates.
Live in HD screenings will include on Saturday, August 23 at 8 p.m., Verdi's Aida, Michael Mayer's new production of this epic Egyptian drama; on Sunday, August 24 at 8 p.m. Beethoven's Fidelio, a modern-day production of Beethoven's only opera; on Monday, August 25 at 8 p.m., Strauss's Salome, a new production of Strauss' adaption of Oscar Wilde's play; on Tuesday, August 26 at 7:30 p.m., Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with a dynamic young cast in this comic masterpiece; on Wednesday, August 27 at 8 p.m., Jeanine Tesori's Grounded, a new opera about a contemporary servicewoman; on Thursday, August 28 at 7:30 p.m., Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, a production by Broadway's Bartlett Sher about three love affairs; on Friday, August 29 at 8 p.m., Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, inspired by the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez; on Saturday, August 30 at 8 p.m., Puccini's Tosca, a dramatic, fiery classic; on Sunday, August 31 at 7:30 p.m., Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, an ever-popular comedy; and on Monday, September 1 at 8 p.m., Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, a romance set during California's gold rush.
The original HD transmissions of these productions took place from October 27, 2018 through May 31, 2025.
Thousands of venues in 60 countries worldwide participate in the Met's Live in HD program.
For audiences who do not have access to these performances in cinemas, the Met also offers streaming access through The Met: Live at Home platform.
Many past Live in HD performances are available for purchase on DVD and Blu-ray at the Met Opera Shop, while many past Live in HD performances are accessible through the Met Opera on Demand online subscription streaming service.
Lincoln Center Plaza extends from Columbus Avenue almost to Amsterdam Avenue and from West 63 Street to West 65 Street on the