The next installment in The Met: Live in HD series will be a new production of Berlioz's rarely staged opera-oratorio, La Damnation de Faust. The composer’s unconventional take on Goethe’s version of the Faust legend has never had a secure place in the operatic repertoire, in part because it’s not quite an opera and not quite an oratorio. It contains some of Berlioz’s most extravagantly expressive music, though, and is most often presented in concert form, as it was at its Met premiere in 1896. The work is becoming more dramatically viable as new developments in stagecraft make it possible for companies to create scenic effects that were unimaginable during the composer’s lifetime, and the work is finally beginning to gain a foothold in the repertoire. The innovative Canadian director Robert Lepage introduced an earlier version of this production in 1999 in Matsumoto, Japan, but he has extensively expanded the scenic elements for the Met’s production, which promises to be visually stunning. James Levine will conduct, and the production will feature Susan Graham as Marguerite, Marcello Giordani as Faust, and John Relyea as Méphistopheles.The live transmission of La Damnation de Faust will be on Saturday, November 22 at 1:00 (ET), with an encore broadcast on Wednesday, December 3 at 7:00 pm (local time). Check your local theater listings for details or check out the Met's website.