All ticket sales and donations from the concert, scheduled for Monday, March 14, at 6PM ET, will go “to support Ukrainian citizens under attack […] and relief efforts in Ukraine,” the Met announced on its website.
The opera’s Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead the Met Orchestra and Chorus, as well as star soloists, including sopranos Lise Davidsen and Elza van den Heever, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green.
Ukrainian bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi will lead the Met Chorus in a performance of the Ukrainian national anthem.
The programme features music by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, Barber, Verdi, Strauss, and Beethoven.
The concert will be broadcast internationally via the European Broadcasting Union EBU and will also be streamed live.
‘Unity and solidarity for Ukraine’
Last week, Poland’s Beczała cancelled a concert with the Russian National Youth Symphony Orchestra in Moscow scheduled for May 25, in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
He wrote on Facebook: “I am not a politician and I have no influence on political decisions. But I am an artist and I can use my voice to express my opposition to the war that takes place just across the border of my beloved motherland.”
Beczała added: “We are not powerless! Each of us can express our opposition out loud. Each of us can provide help to the best of our ability. At this point, I would like to emphasize how proud I am of my compatriots who are helping and welcoming tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war! Poles, you are great! Unity and solidarity for Ukraine!”.
Friday is day sixteen of the Russian attack on Ukraine, which began on February 24.
Poland on Friday reported it had admitted 1,52 million people escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(mk/pm)
Source: metopera.org