Submitted Photo Live at the Met, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live, high definition (HD) opera transmissions to theaters around the world, continues its 2016-17 season at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House on Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m., with Wolfgang Mozart’s Idomeneo.

Live at the Met, the Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live, high definition (HD) opera transmissions to theaters around the world, continues its 2016-17 season at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House on Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m., with Wolfgang Mozart’s Idomeneo.

Mozart’s first operatic masterpiece returns to the met in the classic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine. The superb ensemble includes Matthew Polenzani as the king torn by a rash vow, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in the trouser role of his noble son Idamante, soprano Nadine Sierra as Ilia and soprano Elza van den Heever as the volatile Elettra, who loves Idamante to the bounds of madness.

Idomeneo is based on the Greek story of Idomeneo, the king of Crete. Returning home from the Trojan Wars during a storm, Idomeneo vows to sacrifice to Neptune (the Greek god Poseidon) the first living creature he meets ashore in return for his own safety. The first person he sees turns out to be his own son Idamante, and Idomeneo attempts to escape from fulfilling his vow.

Like many stories from Greek myth, Idomeneo explores the motivations and emotions of humans whose fates seem beyond their own control. The opera casts these issues within the framework of the opera seria genre, a stylized format popular in the 18th century that is characterized by a succession of arias and recitatives and a cast of noble characters. Long neglected along with other works of this era, Idomeneo now holds a firm place in the repertoire as the first of Mozart’s operatic masterpieces.

The production has a run time of three hours, 58 minutes with two intermissions

Live at the Met telecasts are now shown in more than 2,000 theaters in 70 countries, making the Met the only arts institution with an ongoing global art series of this scale. The Met was the first arts company to experiment with this type of broadcast, beginning on a modest scale in 2006 and growing every season since then, with more than 10 million tickets sold to date.

Met Opera stars serve as hosts for the series, conducting live interviews with cast members, crew and production teams, and introducing the popular behind-the-scenes features; altogether, the worldwide audience is given an unprecedented look at what goes into the staging of an opera at one of the world’s great houses.

Individual tickets to each of the operas in the season are $20, ($18 Opera House members, $10 students). A flexible subscription of eight tickets which can be used however you want – one at a time to eight different operas, all at once for eight people, or anything in between – is available for $142. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Opera House Box Office or by phone at 716-679-1891, Tuesday-Friday, 1-5 p.m. Tickets may be purchased online anytime at www.fredopera.org.

The Opera House is equipped with assistive listening headsets for the hearing-impaired. Simply request one from any usher or Opera House staff member.

The 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.