The Metropolitan Opera Kicks Off Free Summer Recital Series Tonight, 7/25

The Metropolitan Opera presents the return of its popular free outdoor series of summer events. For the fourth consecutive year, the Met will present operatic recitals in parks in all five boroughs, as well as a ten-day festival of encore screenings from the Met's popular HD transmissions in Lincoln Center Plaza.

The Met's 2012 Summer Recital Series, presented in collaboration with City Parks Foundation, will feature six free concerts beginning tonight, July 25 and concluding August 9.

The series begins tonight, July 25, 2012, at Central Park SummerStage with an 8:00 pm recital featuring three Met stars: soprano Danielle De Niese, tenor Dimitri Pittas, and bass-baritone John Del Carlo, as well as pianist Dan Saunders. The same four artists will perform on July 27 at 7:00 pm in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1 (Brooklyn). Later recitals in the Bronx's Crotona Park (July 31), Staten Island's Clove Lakes Park (August 2), Manhattan's Jackie Robinson Park (August 7), and Queens's Socrates Sculpture Park (August 9) will feature soprano Deanna Breiwick, tenor Alexander Lewis, baritone Edward Parks, and pianist Vlad Iftinca.  No tickets are required for any of the performances; a complete schedule is below.

The popular Summer HD Festival returns for a fourth year, featuring ten consecutive nights of free encore screenings from the Met's Peabody and Emmy Award-winning Live in HD series. This year's festival will run August 25 – September 3; titles and starting times for the screenings will be announced closer to the festival date. No tickets are required for the festival.  More than 3100 seats will be available each night, plus space for overflow crowds of more than 4000 on the plaza.

"These summer events are part of our continuing mission to make opera more accessible for the public," said Met General Manager Peter Gelb.

The Met: Live in HD, produced in association with PBS and WNET is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation.