News
The Metropolitan Opera’s Tosca Glitters
Sopranos Maria Guleghina, Andrea Gruber, and Aprile Millo Wear Maria Callas’s Famous Swarovski Crystal Stage Jewels Starting October 28. “Maria Callas and Swarovski: Jewels on Stage at the Metropolitan Opera,” a new exhibition featuring stage jewels, opens at the Met on January 19
October 27, 2006
New York, NY (October 27, 2006)–The striking stage jewels worn by Maria Callas when she performed her first Met Tosca in 1956 return to the Met stage this month, nearly 50 years later. Soprano Maria Guleghina will wear the jewels on opening night, Saturday, October 28, when she performs the role of Puccini’s fiery heroine. (Andrea Gruber, originally slated to sing this performance, is ill.) Beginning Tuesday, November 1, sopranos Andrea Gruber and Aprile Millo will share the role through December 2. The Tosca jewels were made exclusively for Callas by Swarovski, the premier maker of crystal jewelry and accessories, and designed for her by the late Met stage director Dino Yannopoulos.
The return of Callas’s Tosca stage jewels to the Met anticipates an upcoming exhibition at the Met titled Maria Callas and Swarovski: Jewels on Stage at the Metropolitan Opera; it will feature more than 60 pieces of stage jewelry made of Swarovski crystals for Callas and will be displayed alongside archival photos and other Callas memorabilia. The exhibition, which is free to ticket holders for the day’s performance, runs from January 19 to March 3, 2007, in the Met’s Founders Hall. The event marks the first U.S. stop on an international tour sponsored by Swarovski.
Callas had the jewels made for her first Met Tosca, which she sang on November 15, 1956. This was the first time American audiences would hear Callas in the role, and she wanted to make sure her performance outshone all others, including those of her archrival, Renata Tebaldi. The jewels were so bright that, for a televised performance of the opera, Callas was only able to wear the earrings and not the tiara and necklace. Swarovski made stage jewels for Callas between 1947 and 1965, during which time the singer wore Swarovski crystal pieces in La Gioconda, I Puritani, La Traviata, Norma, and Tosca, among many other operas.
This beloved Franco Zeffirelli production of Tosca returns to the Met with Maria Guleghina, Andrea Gruber and Aprile Millo sharing the role of Tosca, José Cura as her lover, Cavaradossi, and James Morris as the sadistic Baron Scarpia. Nicola Luisotti conducts. Tickets are available online at www.metopera.org or by calling Met Ticket Service at (212) 362-6000.
About Swarovski
Swarovski is the world leader in cut crystal. The company, which has remained fully independent since its founding in Wattens, Austria, in 1895, employs 17,000 people and maintains a presence in more than 120 countries. Swarovski is no stranger to the Met; the famed “exploding star” chandeliers that ascend to the ceiling of the Met auditorium before each opera were created by Lobmeyr in Vienna of Swarovski crystal.
About the Metropolitan Opera
Under the leadership of new General Manager Peter Gelb, the Met has launched many initiatives to connect the company with a larger audience. They include: a first-ever free open house that offered the public an opportunity to attend the final dress rehearsal of Madama Butterfly; an extensive Madama Butterfly transit advertising campaign in New York City during the month of September; $15 tickets (formerly $26) in the Family Circle section; the new Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Rush Ticket program that offers 200 orchestra seats deeply discounted to $20 for weekday performances, available at the box office two hours before curtain; the new Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met exhibiting contemporary art; a groundbreaking commissioning program in partnership with the Lincoln Center Theater that provides renowned composers and playwrights the resources to create and develop new works at the Met and Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater; and dynamic new content on the web site, the house program, and the radio broadcasts. The Met recently announced the use of advanced distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world. On September 25, “Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius” launched as a 24-hour satellite radio channel broadcasting live and rare historical performances. The Met presents free live streaming of performances from its website once every week with support from RealNetworks®. Beginning on December 30, the Met will transmit six of its performances live in HD into movie theaters in the United States, Canada, and Europe that have been equipped with high-definition projection systems and satellite dishes.