Charles now offers La Scala operas, boos and all

Cusak has seen "a definite following" for the La Scala presentations. "For Don Carlo, we had maybe 150 people, and probably half that for nonlive performances. People really like the live thing. It is more spontaneous that way. They got to hear the people at La Scala booing the tenor at the end."

Starkey gives high marks to the sound quality in the multiplexes offering the Met operas. "The sound system at the Charles is adequate, but doesn't come close to Abingdon and Columbia. The picture quality, however, is superior to what the Met is able to deliver. It's every bit as bright as a regular movie."

The expansion beyond La Scala on the Emerging Pictures lineup also holds appeal. This year, Austria's Salzburg and England's Glyndebourne festivals are in the mix; the latter's updated Hansel and Gretel will be shown Tuesday. "There is a curiosity to see what the inside of those theaters looks like and what the stagings are like," Starkey says. Ballet, including performances from Moscow's Bolshoi, is now on the schedule.

So far, the technical side of bringing performances from historic European theaters to a Baltimore movie house has been smooth. Except for the start of the Don Carlo simulcast. "We got messages that someone was trying to hack into the system," Cusak says. "They called us three or four times telling us to jig and jag. When we started, the [picture] wasn't in frame."

Although digital transmissions by phone line or satellite may be subject to tampering, nothing is likely to stop the digitalization of cinema.

"There is a general question about where movie theaters are going," Cusak says. "The future is clearly digital, a new world where anything anywhere can be transmitted everywhere."

IF YOU GO

The International Opera and Ballet Series at the Charles Theatre continues with Verdi's Otello at 6:45 p.m. Sunday and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $20. The theater is at 1711 N. Charles St. Call 410-727-3456 or go to thecharles.com.