Anna Netrebko in La bohème The Movie and Returns to Met for Bart Sher’s New Production of Les contes d’Hoffmann

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“Reigning New Diva” Also Performs Four Back-to-Back Roles at Vienna State Opera and Makes Appearances in Berlin, London, Paris, and St. Petersburg

Anna Netrebko’s first full season of performances since the birth of her son is highlighted by a new Metropolitan Opera production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, and opening on December 3 in New York. Meanwhile, this month sees the Russian soprano on the big screen, when Emerging Pictures releases a feature film version of La bohème, in which she stars alongside Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón. Puccini’s Mimì is also one of the four characters Netrebko will portray at the Vienna State Opera, where she takes on four leading operatic roles over a six-week period near the season’s end.

In the Met’s new production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, Netrebko appears as the young Antonia. Audiences worldwide will be able to see her in the role, thanks to the Met: Live In HD movie theater broadcast of the matinee performance on December 19. The soprano’s castmates in this production include rising star mezzo Kate Lindsey as Nicklausse and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja as Hoffmann. Alan Held plays the four villains, and Metropolitan Opera Artistic Director James Levine conducts.

Anna Netrebko will also reprise her signature role of Mimì in the Met’s beloved Franco Zeffirelli production of La bohème, opening February 20. But those looking to get their Puccini fix before the new year will be delighted this month, when Emerging Pictures releases a feature film version of La bohème, starring Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. The movie, which was filmed in 2008 in Vienna and is directed by Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director Robert Dornhelm, will be shown in theaters in select cities starting September 23. Information on exact show times and locations, as well as a list of participating venues, is available at www.labohemethemovie.com/showtimes. The theatrical trailer for La bohème can be viewed at labohemethemovie.com/trailer.

To coincide with the film’s release, Deutsche Grammophon has issued an iTunes exclusive release called La bohème – Five Favorites, which features five must-have selections from the full-length version of Netrebko and Villazón’s recording of the opera, and which will be available for only $3.99. A more traditional highlights recording will follow, both in physical and digital versions, later in the year. Netrebko and Villazón’s complete recording of La bohème, which is used as the movie’s soundtrack, was released in 2008 on DG.

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