The broadcast of Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin will be presented live in select cinemas nationwide on Saturday, December 10 at 12:55 p.m. ET / 9:55 a.m. PT, followed by an encore on Wednesday, December 21 at 6:30 p.m. local time. In Birmingham, the event will be shown at the Carmike Vestavia Hills 10, and Regal Trussville Stadium 16.

One of the most highly praised operas of recent years, which had its premiere at the Salzburg Festival in 2000, Kaija Saariaho’s yearning medieval romance L’Amour de Loin (“Love From Afar”), has its Met premiere this season. The production is by Robert Lepage, co-produced with L’Opéra de Québec, where it premiered to acclaim last summer, in collaboration with Ex Machina. Debuting Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki leads the performance, which stars Susanna Phillips as Clémence, Eric Owens as Jaufré and Tamara Mumfordas the Pilgrim who carries messages of love between them.