Utica, N.Y. — The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live performance transmissions, will conclude at Munson with Gioachino Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 31, in the Sinnott Family – Bank of Utica Auditorium in the Museum of Art in Downtown Utica. Tickets are $24 for Munson Members, $30 for the general public, and $15 for students and can be purchased by calling 315-797-0055, coming to the Munson welcome desk, or visiting munson.art/metlive.
Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Its buoyant good humor and elegant melodies have delighted the diverse tastes of every generation for two centuries, and several of the opera’s most recognizable tunes have entered the world’s musical unconscious, most notably the introductory patter song of the swaggering Figaro, the titular barber of Seville. The paradox of Rossini’s music is that the comedy can soar only with disciplined mastery of vocal technique. The singers must be capable of long vocal lines of attention-holding beauty as well as the rapid runs of coloratura singing. The score features solos of astounding speed in comic, tongue-twisting patter forms, especially the title role’s well-known Act I showstopper, “Largo al factotum.”
“We are thrilled to close this season of The Met: Live in HD with Rossini’s sparkling “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”—a timeless comedy filled with unforgettable music,” said Bob Mortis, director of Performing Arts. “This season has been a journey through some of the greatest works in opera, and we are excited to see the series return in 2025-26 with even more extraordinary performances, bringing world-class opera to our community.”
Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside high-flying tenor Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, with bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio rounding out the principal cast. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts.
“The Met: Live in HD” at Munson is sponsored by Elizabeth R. Lemieux, Ph.D.
“The Met: Live in HD” series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital Support is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. “The Met: Live in HD” series is supported by Rolex.
For more information on each performance and to purchase tickets, visit munson.art/metlive.
