Dear Friends: Our tours to New York City to attend great performances at the Metropolitan Opera are almost at an end for the 2006-2007 Season. While our trips to see the Metropolitan Opera Company are over, there is still the special tour with the Kirov Opera performing Wagner’s DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN at the Met, July 16 - 20. This acclaimed production will be conducted by the Kirov's artistic director, Valery Gergiev, and features an outstanding Russian cast. The performances are co-presented by the Lincoln Center Festival and the Metropolitan Opera. Our plans for the exciting 2007-2008 Season are being finalized right now. Capsule descriptions of the performances in the five tours are given below. Check back with us soon for the complete itineraries. With all best wishes, Mary T. Dailey President * SPECIAL TOUR FEATURES * • Great performances at the METROPOLITAN OPERA • Prime orchestra seats • The fashionable PARK LANE HOTEL on Central Park South • New York's most famous restaurants • Complimentary pass to the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM of ART • Fully escorted • Round-trip transfers to all scheduled performances To see the itinerary for the Kirov performing the RING in day-by-day format, click on 2006-2007 under the Upcoming Tours on the pop-down menu at the top of this page. * * * NEW YORK CITY PREVIEWS 2007 - 2008 * * * AUTUMN OPERA GALA October 4 - 7, 2007 Verdi’s AIDA (Maria Guleghina, Dolora Zajick, Marco Berti, Andrzej Dobber, Carlo Colombara, Dimitri Kavrakos; Kazushi Ono); Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR. New Production. (Natalie Dessay, Marcello Giordani, Mariusz Kwiecien, John Relyea); Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (Dorothea Röschmann, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Anke Vondung, Michele Pertusi, Erwin Schrott; Philippe Jordan); Gounod’s ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (Anna Netrebko, Isabel Leonard, Rolando Villazón, Nathan Gunn, Kristinn Sigmundsson; Plácido Domingo). PRE-HOLIDAY CELEBRATION December 6 - 9, 2007 RADIO CITY CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR. At the Met: Bellini’s NORMA (Maria Guleghina, Dolora Zajick, Franco Farina, Vitalij Kowaljow; Maurizio Benini); Gluck’s IPHIGÉNIE EN TAURIDE. New Production. (Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo, Paul Groves, William Shimell; Louis Langrée); Gounod’s ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (Anna Netrebko, Isabel Leonard, Rolando Villazón, Jeff Mattsey, Robert Lloyd; Plácido Domingo). VALENTINE SPECIAL at the MET February 14 - 17, 2008 Rossini’s IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA (Elina Garanca, Jose Manuel Zapata, Franco Vassallo, Maurizio Muraro, Ruggero Raimondi; Frédéric Chaslin); Verdi’s OTELLO (Renée Fleming, Johan Botha, CarloGuelfi; Semyon Bychkov); Puccini’s MANON LESCAUT (Karita Mattila, Marcello Giordani, Dwayne Croft, Dale Travis; James Levine); Bizet’s CARMEN (Krassimira Stoyanova, Olga Borodina, Marcelo Álvarez; Emmanuel Villaume). SPRING PRELUDE at the MET March 13 - 16, 2008 Donizetti’s LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR. New Production. (Natalie Dessay, Giuseppe Filianoti, Mariusz Kwiecien, John Relyea.); Wagner’s TRISTAN UND ISOLDE (Deborah Voigt, Michelle DeYoung, Ben Heppner, Eike Wilm Schulte, Matti Salminen; James Levine); OPTIONAL PERFORMANCE: Britten’s PETER GRIMES. New Production. (Patricia Racette, Neil Shicoff, Anthony Michaels-Moore; Donald Runnicles); Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA (Ruth Ann Swenson, Jonas Kaufmann, Dwayne Croft; Marco Armiliato). SEASON FINALE at the MET May 15 - 18, 2008 Mozart’s LA CLEMENZA DI TITO (Heidi Grant Murphy, Tamar Iveri, Susan Graham, Anke Vondung, RamónVargas; Harry Bicket); Donizetti’s LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT. New Production. (Natalie Dessay, Felicity Palmer, Juan Diego Flórez, Alessandro Corbelli, Zoe Caldwell; Marco Armiliato); OPTIONAL PERFORMANCE: Tan Dun’s THE FIRST EMPEROR. (Sarah Coburn, Ning Liang, Susanne Mentzer, Plácido Domingo, Paul Groves, Hao Jiang Tian; Tan Dun); Verdi’s MACBETH. New Production. (Andrea Gruber, Joseph Calleja, Carlos Alvarez, René Pape; James Levine). * * * * * * *