Angela Gheorghiu to Give Free Metropolitan Opera Concert

Angela Gheorghiu – star of this season’s La bohème at the Met Opera and next season’s La rondine and L’elisir d’amore – will give a free concert with her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna, in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park on June 20 at 8 pm. “I’m thrilled to be singing in the Metropolitan Opera’s only public park concert this summer!” remarked Angela Gheorghiu. “I can’t think of a more romantic night than singing under the stars with my husband Roberto and the wonderful Met Orchestra led by my dear friend Ion Marin.” The world-renowned opera stars, with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, will usher in the summer with what is expected to be the Met’s largest outdoor concert ever, attracting an audience of up to 150,000 people from all over the city and the tri-state area.

Although Ms. Gheorghiu is singing her first outdoor concert in the United States on this occasion, she has given notable performances of this type for enormous audiences in Europe – among them 2002’s “Prom at the Palace” for Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee, which was televised live worldwide, and at the beloved “Waldbühne” in Berlin.

Ms. Gheorghiu and Mr. Alagna, opera’s star couple, will perform a selection of opera’s greatest hits to usher in summer, in a special one-night-only event in Prospect Park, conducted by Ms. Gheorghiu’s fellow Romanian, Ion Marin. The program will feature popular arias and duets by such composers as Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, and Massenet. The concert will take place on an unusually large stage in Prospect Park’s Long Meadow baseball fields in the heart of Brooklyn. Six jumbo video screens will be installed throughout the area to maximize visibility for all attendees.

The performance will be broadcast live on New York’s 96.3 WQXR-FM and streamed live on the Met’s website. Especially for the concert, corporate sponsor Bank of America and the Met will be providing 25,000 free MTA MetroCards at select Bank of America branches in all five boroughs. Everyone who picks up a MetroCard in a special, commemorative folder, will also receive a card that – once scanned at Prospect Park – will make the cardholder eligible for free prizes, including tickets to a performance during the Metropolitan Opera’s upcoming season.

WQXR, the New Yorker magazine, and NY1 are the official media sponsors for the event and will provide promotional and editorial support to provide maximum visibility and accessibility to opera lovers throughout the city. The concert begins at 8 pm; the rain date is scheduled for Saturday, June 21, also at 8 pm. For more information on “Met Summer Concert: Live in Prospect Park” please call (212) 362-6000 or visit www.metopera.org/park

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna
Met Summer Concert: Live in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Friday, June 20, 8:00 pm
Rain Date: Saturday, June 21