The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the summer encore of the Met Opera’s “Aida” (from the 2024-25 season) on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 1 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. In this powerful 2025 Met performance, soprano Angel Blue sings the title role of Verdi’s Egyptian drama, with tenor Piotr Beczala as the warrior Radamès and mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi as Amneris in Michael Mayer’s spectacular staging. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. ACT I Ancient Egypt. The warrior Radamès and Aida, the Ethiopian slave of Princess Amneris, are in love. Amneris, daughter of the King, also loves Radamès. When he is chosen to lead the Egyptian army against the advancing Ethiopians, Aida is torn between love for Radamès and loyalty to her homeland, where her father is king.

The Met: Live in HD season opens with Mozart’s satirical comedy of fickle young love. Phelim McDermott’s “colorful, inventive” (The New York Times) staging, inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s, sets the uproarious story at a boardwalk amusement park, where the two pairs of lovers at the heart of the tale find themselves on one emotional—and literal—thrill ride after another. Soprano Federica Lombardi and mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey sing Fiordiligi and Dorabella, opposite tenor Duke Kim and baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky as Ferrando and Guglielmo. Bass-baritone Gerald Finley reprises his portrayal of the cynical Don Alfonso, with soprano Ana María Martínez as the witty maid Despina.

Set during the California Gold Rush, Minnie, the gun-slinging tavern owner with a heart of gold, finds love in the arms of a dashing outlaw. Celebrated British director Richard Jones brings a new production of Puccini’s exhilarating drama of the Wild West to the Met, which marks the company’s first new staging of “La Fanciulla del West” in more than 30 years. Soprano Vida Mikneviciute makes an important Met debut as Minnie, starring alongside tenor SeokJong Baek as Dick Johnson.

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. Baritone Quinn Kelsey is the Scottish king haunted by the ghosts of his murderous ascent to the throne, opposite soprano Lise Davidsen 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. Rounding out the all-star cast are tenor Freddie De Tommaso as Macduff and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Banquo.

A masterpiece of the French repertoire, Massenet’s passionate drama follows the young Manon on her journey from Parisian glamour to tragic downfall. Following her radiant performance in Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” — which garnered raves for “high notes that spun like liquid gold … Sierra touched the operatic firmament” (The New York Times) — superstar soprano Nadine Sierra takes on another alluring French heroine, the irresistible title character of Massenet’s passionate drama, live from the Met stage to cinemas worldwide. Leading tenor Matthew Polenzani is her idealistic lover, the Chevalier des Grieux, with rising-star baritone Andrzej Filonczyk as her stalwart cousin, Lescaut, in a breathtaking staging by director Laurent Pelly.

Verdi’s monumental Shakespearean tragedy follows a triumphant war hero driven to destruction by jealousy and his enemies’ hatred. One of today’s leading dramatic tenors, Brian Jagde, takes on the tour-de-force title role of what many consider the ultimate Italian opera, live to cinemas worldwide. Verdi’s “Otello” also features soprano Ailyn Pérez in her company role debut as the long-suffering Desdemona, alongside baritone Artur Rucinski as the sinister Iago. Michele Mariotti leads the full forces of the Met Orchestra and Chorus in the exhilarating score.

Wagner’s epic final opera, set in a sacred realm of ritual and mystery. A profound philosophical meditation on compassion and reconciliation, this transcendent rendering of a medieval knight’s heroic quest for the Holy Grail returns to the big screen in François Girard’s celebrated production, a “thoughtful and intrepid staging, full of striking imagery” (The New York Times). Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast of Wagnerian superstars, including tenor Piotr Beczala in the title role, mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca as the enigmatic Kundry, baritone Peter Mattei as the ailing Amfortas, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the sorcerer Klingsor, and bass Jongmin Park as the wise Gurnemanz.

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 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.

Following his smash-hit company debut with “The Hours”, composer Kevin Puts returns to the Met with his Pulitzer Prize–winning opera, inspired by the true events of the 1914 Christmas truce, when soldiers spontaneously set aside the horrors of the First World War and crossed the trenches to mingle, exchange gifts, and sing carols with the enemy. A poignant depiction of shared humanity in the most inhumane circumstances, Puts’s grand, cinematic opera — with a libretto in English, French, and German by Mark Campbell — has been widely acclaimed since its 2011 premiere, hailed as “an overwhelming emotive experience” by The Guardian. The evocative staging by James Robinson takes the audience directly to the battlefields of the Western Front with a star-studded cast, featuring soprano Elza van den Heever and tenors Ben Bliss and Rolando Villazón, conducted by Maestro Dalia Stasevska live from the Met to cinemas worldwide.

The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the summer encore of the Met Opera’s “The Merry Widow” (from the 2014-15 season) on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Soprano Renée Fleming stars as the heiress who captivates all of Paris in Lehár’s enchanting operetta. Baritone Nathan Gunn co-stars as Danilo, alongside Broadway legend Kelli O’Hara as Valencienne in the dazzling 2015 production directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award–winner Susan Stroman. Andrew Davis conducts. Act I The Pontevedrian ambassador, Baron Zeta, is giving a ball. His wife, Valencienne, flirts with the young Frenchman Camille de Rosillon, who writes “I love you” on her fan. Zeta plans to get Danilo to marry the rich widow Hanna Glawari so that her millions will stay in Pontevedro. Valencienne realizes that she has lost her fan. Danilo tells Hanna that he’s not interested in marriage.