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The English National Opera recently announced that it will stream its February 23 performance of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia live in 3D. The opera will air on the program ‘Sky 3D,' an October 2010 addition to British Sky Broadcasting Group.

It will also be presented via a live, 3D broadcast in about 15-20 movie theaters, and in 2D on Sky Arts 2, according to The Guardian.

'An Exciting Future'

The ENO's artistic director John Berry said in an interview with The Guardian that the company's collaboration with Sky reflected its "ambition to create an exciting future for opera and reach out to a wider audience through innovative collaborations with the wider arts."

Mike Figgis, English movie director of Leaving Las Vegas fame, is set to direct the production, his first opera gig.

The broadcast will be the first-ever live broadcast of opera in 3D, but the ENO is not the first to do classical music in 3D. The production reflects a more widespread move to 3D in the musical world. In November of last year, Holland's classical-music-oriented Brava network launched its own 3D channel, which features performances of opera, ballet, and other classical music. And the Royal Opera's prerecorded Carmen in 3D is set to premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on February 6. The Los Angeles Times reports that Carmen will open in 3D theaters worldwide on March 5.

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