Derek Reaban

In an exciting TV preview of what promises to be an unforgettable evening of music and theater, five stars from the Met's new production of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) will perform a scene on the Late Show with David Letterman. Under the baton of conductor Maurizio Benini, Met stars Juan Diego Flórez, Diana Damrau, Peter Mattei, John Del Carlo, and Samuel Ramey will perform the stirring Act I finale of director Bartlett Sher's innovative new production of the comic favorite. A 16–member chorus and 22 members of the Met orchestra will also appear.

The broadcast is on Wednesday, November 8, 2006, at 11:35 p.m., ET, on CBS.

The Letterman performance provides an enticing first glimpse of the highly anticipated production, which premieres Friday, November 10. The Met's first new production of Barber in 25 years has been created by Sher and his Tony Award®–winning artistic dream team behind the Broadway hit The Light in the Piazza.


The Letterman appearance offers just a taste of Sher's groundbreaking new Barber. Tickets for all performances, plus behind–the–scene stories, are available at www.metopera.org. The November 10 premiere will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio (channel 85 on SIRIUS Satellite Radio) and streamed live on the Met website at www.metopera.org. The production will be broadcast live into movie theaters in high definition in spring 2007.

wiseone2

Tell them to dress warmly!
When we played the David Letterman show a few years ago, it was like performing in a freezer. It was like playing the Mummers Parade in Philly.
Wilmer

Bugler

I second that emotion. I did Letterman show in 2003 and the temp on stage was 30 degrees lower than the green room, making for some challanging intonation adjustments.

Here's a few pics from the show: (they are on page 2)


www.allstarbuglers.net/photoalbum.htm

Derek Reaban

I really enjoyed this last night. I’ve never seen this opera before, but it looks like a comedy that I would really enjoy. And talk about break neck tempo! I didn’t know vocalists could sing syllables that fast. It was really impressive.

In addition to the small orchestra (16 I think) and conductor and 8 main voices, they had a full mens chorus standing in between the orchestra and soloists. I’m guessing that there were 15-20 extra voices in the chorus (similar to what they had in Rigoletto several week ago).

When they finished Dave Letterman said, “That was just great! I had no idea there would be so many people here though. And nobody said anything thing about costumes…I don’t know if we’re going to be able to pay everyone.”

I can’t ever remember seeing something like this on a late night show. It was certainly worth staying up!

Jimi Michiel

Yes, it's always great to showcase legit art music on a stage that is normally reserved for less talented pop acts. Very cool. There's a nice piece on the whole thing at the MET website: http://www.metoperafamily.org/metope...letterman.aspx

Derek Reaban

Thanks Jimi! I enjoyed reading about the preparation for this in more detail.