The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning 2026 -2027 series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts exclusively at select Ster-Kinekor and Cinema Nouveau cinemas will be announced soon.
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2026 season promises a dynamic interplay between tradition and transformation, offering a preview that feels both grand and intimate.
Upcoming screenings at the V & A Waterfront
COSÌ FAN TUTTE – 3 OCTOBER
The Metropolitan Opera will present Mozart’s Così fan tutte as the opening transmission of its 2026–27 Live in HD season on 3 October 2026. This performance is part of the Met’s 20th anniversary HD lineup and features Mozart’s satirical comedy in Phelim McDermott’s vibrant, Coney‑Island‑inspired staging. The cast for the 2026–27 revival includes Federica Lombardi (Fiordiligi), Samantha Hankey (Dorabella), Ana María Martínez (Despina), Duke Kim (Ferrando), Andrey Zhilikhovsky (Guglielmo), and Gerald Finley (Don Alfonso), conducted by Nimrod David Pfeffer. The opera runs approximately 3 hours 35 minutes, with a 30‑minute intermission, and will be screened in cinemas worldwide as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. SYNOPSIS
The opera was originally set in Naples. With its natural beauty and abundant sunshine, the city became the equivalent of a tourist destination in the 18th century. It has been suggested that the preponderance of woodwinds in the score is meant to evoke the breezy atmosphere of the seashore.The Met’s current production updates the action to an amusement park inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s.
The score of Così is elegant and refined on its surface and dramatically insightful on closer inspection. It is often possible in this opera to tell who is siding with whom, and to what degree, in the various ensembles, whereas the characters’ individual development is apparent in the diversity of their solos.
The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) continues to enthrall audiences around the world. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. The extraordinary Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838) led an adventurous life in Venice and Vienna. He supplied libretti for the prominent composers of his time, including Antonio Salieri, and collaborated with Mozart on his greatest operatic achievements, including Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Don Giovanni. Da Ponte migrated to America and eventually settled in New York, where he was granted the first Chair of Italian at Columbia College (now University).
MACBETH – 17 OCTOBER
Verdi’s Macbeth will be the Metropolitan Opera’s second Live in HD transmission of the 2026–27 season, screened worldwide on 17 October 2026. This new production, directed by Louisa Proske, features Quinn Kelsey as Macbeth and Lise Davidsen as Lady Macbeth, with Freddie De Tommaso as Macduff and Ryan Speedo Green as Banquo. The performance is conducted by Yannick Nézet‑Séguin, the Met’s Music Director.
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) composed 26 operas during his 60 active years in the theater, at least half of which are at the core of today’s opera repertory. Francesco Maria Piave (1810–76), one of the two librettists for Macbeth, collaborated with the composer on ten works, while additional portions of the opera’s libretto were provided by Verdi’s friend Count Andrea Maffei (1798–1885), a cosmopolitan literary amateur who introduced the work of many great foreign writers, including those of Shakespeare (1564–1616), to Italians.
Two of opera’s most extraordinary artists return to The Met: Live in HD for Verdi’s thrilling take on the immortal Shakespearean tale of the scheming couple determined to seize power at any cost. Following past triumphs in many of Verdi’s signature baritone roles, Quinn Kelsey is the Scottish king haunted by the ghosts of his murderous ascent to the throne, opposite Lise Davidsen—the world’s reigning dramatic soprano—as the power-mad Lady Macbeth, whose ruinous ambition damns them both. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for a penetrating production by Louisa Proske, a brilliant young director making waves around the world. Rounding out the all-star cast are tenor Freddie De Tommaso as the heroic Macduff and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Macbeth’s friend-turned-victim Banquo. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.
SAMSON ET DALILA – 5 DECEMBER
Saint‑Saëns’s Samson et Dalila will be the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD transmission on 5 December 2026, presented as part of the company’s 2026–27 cinema season. The revival showcases the Met’s grand‑scale production—renowned for its monumental choral scenes and lush French Romantic orchestration—with Aigul Akhmetshina as Dalila and Clay Hilley as Samson, conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti. The staging by Darko Tresnjak returns with its striking visual design by Alexander Dodge and costumes by Linda Cho, bringing to life the biblical drama set in ancient Gaza and the Valley of Sorek. The opera’s sweeping score, celebrated for its sensuality and dramatic power, will be transmitted live to cinemas worldwide as part of the Met’s award‑winning HD series.
Sacred, scandalous, and irresistibly alluring, Saint-Saëns’s spectacular take on the biblical hero of legendary strength and the seductive Philistine whose beauty overpowers him returns in the Met’s larger-than-life production. Featuring a massive orchestra and chorus and some of opera’s most spellbinding tunes, this masterpiece of French grand opera is a feast for the eyes and ears. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts an electrifying cast led by the formidable star pairing of mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina and tenor Clay Hilley, transmitted live to cinemas worldwide. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theatres across the globe. SYNOPSIS
Don’t miss these world-class opera productions filmed and transmitted from the Met stage to the big screen at Cinema Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor cinemas: Bedford and Rosebank Nouveau in Johannesburg; and V&A Waterfront (livestream) in Cape Town.
