Category Archives: MET OPERA LIVE IN HD

November 23

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: AKHNATEN

Director Phelim McDermott tackles another one of Philip Glass’s masterpieces, following the now-legendary Met staging of Satyagraha. Star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is the title pharaoh, the revolutionary ruler who transformed ancient Egypt, with the striking mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges in her Met debut as his wife, Nefertiti. To match the opera’s hypnotic, ritualistic music, McDermott […]

January 12

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: ADRIANA LECOUVREUR

This was one of the best operas I have seen in my lifetime!  I cried and I NEVER CRY in operas.  I was left completely speechless.  I wish I has been able to see this opera in person.  If by some chance the opportunity presents itself with the same key cast- I’m there!!! PROGRAM: Courtesy […]

December 15

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: LA TRAVIATA

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s richly textured new production, featuring a dazzling 19th-century setting that changes with the seasons. Soprano Diana Damrau plays the tragic heroine, Violetta, and tenor Juan Diego Flórez returns to the Met for the first time since 2015 to sing the role of Alfredo, Violetta’s hapless lover. Baritone Quinn Kelsey is […]

October 20

MET OPERA HD: SHADOWING GARY HALVORSON & MEDIA DEPARTMENT FOR HD BROADCAST OF SAMSON & DALILA

The Met invited me behind the scenes of the Met Opera Live in HD Broadcast of “Samson & Dalila” to shadow Director Gary Halvorson and his media team as they prepared for and mounted the Live in HD Broadcast.  I got to watch all the live rehearsals, and then watch the live feed from inside […]

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD SUMMER ENCORE: MADAMA BUTTERFLY

April 28

MET OPERA HD: CENDRILLON

“Glorious,” raved the New York Times when Joyce DiDonato sang the title role of Cendrillon at the Royal Opera in 2011. “Her performance was thoroughly enchanting.” Now, for the first time ever, Massenet’s sumptuous take on the Cinderella story comes to the Met, with DiDonato starring in the title role. She is paired with mezzo-soprano Alice […]

April 14

MET OPERA HD: LUISA MILLER

James Levine and Plácido Domingo add yet another chapter to their legendary Met collaboration with this rarely performed Verdi gem, a heart-wrenching tragedy of fatherly love. Sonya Yoncheva sings the title role opposite Piotr Beczała in the first Met performances of the opera in more than ten years. ESTIMATED RUN TIME 3 HRS 38 MINS […]

March 31

MET OPERA HD: COSI FAN TUTTE

The third and final collaboration between Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte is a fascinating paradox: a frothy comedy of manners with an intensely dark take on human nature; an old story (it has antecedents in Boccaccio, Shakespeare, and Cervantes, among others) with a startlingly modern tone; and a beautiful score depicting questionable behavior. Così […]

March 10

MET OPERA HD: SEMIRAMIDE

This masterpiece of dazzling vocal fireworks makes a rare Met appearance—its first in nearly 25 years—with Maurizio Benini on the podium. The all-star bel canto cast features Angela Meade in the title role of the murderous Queen of Babylon, who squares off in breathtaking duets with Arsace, a trouser role sung by Elizabeth DeShong. Javier […]

February 24

MET OPERA HD: LA BOHEME

La Bohème, the passionate, timeless, and indelible story of love among young artists in Paris, can stake its claim as the world’s most popular opera. It has a marvelous ability to make a powerful first impression and to reveal unsuspected treasures after dozens of hearings. At first glance, La Bohème is the definitive depiction of the joys and […]

February 10

MET OPERA HD: L’ELISIR D’AMORE

L’Elisir d’Amore has been among the most consistently popular operatic comedies for almost two centuries. The story deftly combines comic archetypes with a degree of genuine character development rare in works of this type. Its ending is as much a foregone conclusion as it would be in a romantic comedy film today—the joy is in the […]

January 27

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: TOSCA

Sir David McVicar’s “smashing new production” is “a grand triumph” (Huffington Post), featuring an exciting cast led by soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role of the fiery diva and Vittorio Grigolo as her passionate lover, Cavaradossi. The pair are “youthful, ardent, and innocent … their duets electric, their kisses hot and numerous” (Wall Street […]

November 18

MET OPERA HD: THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL

Following the rapturous response to his last opera, The Tempest, the Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is […]

October 21

MET OPERA HD: NORMA

“Ponselle, Milanov, Sutherland, Callas … after last night, Radvanovsky can add her name to the list,” declared the Huffington Post when Sondra Radvanovsky made her Met role debut as Norma in 2013. The 2017–18 season opens with a new production of Bellini’s masterpiece, starring Radvanovsky as the Druid priestess and Joyce DiDonato as her archrival, […]

October 14

MET OPERA HD: DIE ZAUBERFLOTE

Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts the full-length German version of Mozart’s magical fable, seen in Julie Taymor’s spectacular production, which captures both the opera’s earthy comedy and its noble mysticism. Die Zauberflöte—a sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism—was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the […]

July 19

MET OPERA HD ENCORE: CARMEN

Act I Seville. e soldier Don José is in love with Micaëla, a young girl from his village. e beautiful gypsy Carmen tries to irt with him, but he pays no attention to her. When Carmen is arrested for starting a ght with another girl, José is ordered to take her to prison. She entices […]

July 12

MET OPERA HD ENCORE: NABUCCO

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June 28

MET OPERA HD ENCORE: MACBETH

Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a sensation with her riveting performance as the malevolent Lady Macbeth, the central character in Verdi’s retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy. She is joined by Željko Lučić, who brings dramatic intensity and vocal authority to the title role of the honest general driven to murder and deceit by his ambitious wife. […]

June 21

MET OPERA HD ENCORE: THE PEARL FISHERS

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April 22

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: EUGENE ONEGIN

Tchaikovsky’s setting of Pushkin’s timeless verse novel is presented on the Met stage in Deborah Warner’s moving production, starring Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Tatiana and Onegin. Alexey Dolgov sings the role of Lenski, and Robin Ticciati conducts. TEXT: Courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera VIDEOS: PHOTOS: VIDEOS: POSSE PHOTOS:

March 29

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: IDOMENEO

Mozart’s first operatic masterpiece returns to the Met in the classic Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production, conducted by Music Director Emeritus James Levine. The superb ensemble includes Matthew Polenzani as the king torn by a rash vow; mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in the trouser role of his noble son Idamante; soprano Nadine Sierra as Ilia; and soprano Elza […]

March 11

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: LA TRAVIATA

Sonya Yoncheva sings one of opera’s most beloved heroines, the tragic courtesan Violetta, a role in which she triumphed on the Met stage in 2015, opposite Michael Fabiano as her lover, Alfredo, and Thomas Hampson as his father, Germont. Carmen Giannattasio sings later performances of the title role opposite Atalla Ayan, with the great Plácido […]

February 25

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: RUSALKA

UKristine Opolais stars in the role that helped launch her international career, the mythical Rusalka, who sings the haunting “Song to the Moon.” Mary Zimmerman brings her wondrous theatrical imagination to Dvořák’s fairytale of love and longing, rejection and redemption. Brandon Jovanovich, Jamie Barton, Katarina Dalayman, and Eric Owens complete the all-star cast, and Mark […]

January 21

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: ROMEO & JULIETTE

When Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo starred opposite each other in Manon at the Met in 2015, the New York Times said, “the temperature rises nearly to boiling every time Damrau and Grigolo are on stage together.” Now they’re back as opera’s classic lovers, in Gounod’s lush Shakespeare adaptation. The production, by director Bartlett Sher, has already won acclaim […]

January 07

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: NABUCCO

The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine. Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, the warrior woman determined to rule empires, and Jamie Barton is the heroic Fenena. Dmitri Belosselskiy is the stentorian voice of the oppressed Hebrew people. TEXT: Courtesy of The Metropolitan […]

December 10

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: L’AMOUR DE LOIN

Libretto by Amin Maalouf Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s breakthrough opera was described by the New York Times as “transfixing…a lushly beautiful score.” Commissioned by the Salzburg Festival, where it was first seen in 2000, it will now finally have its Metropolitan Opera premiere in a dazzling new production by Robert Lepage, featuring glimmering ribbons of LED lights […]

October 08

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: TRISTAN & ISOLDE

Tristan und Isolde opens the Met season in a new production by Mariusz Treliński (the director responsible for the 2014–15 season’s double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle), and will be well served by a cast of outstanding Wagnerians: Nina Stemme as Isolde, Stuart Skelton as Tristan, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, and René Pape as King Marke, […]

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD SUMMER ENCORE: LA BOHEME

April 30

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: ELEKTRA

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April 16

NYC OPERA TRIP 2016: ROBERTO DEVEREUX

Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky takes on the extraordinary challenge of singing all three of Donizetti’s Tudor queen operas in the course of a single season, a rare feat made famous by Beverly Sills—and not attempted on a New York stage since. In this climactic opera of the trilogy, she plays Queen Elizabeth I, forced to sign the […]

April 02

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: MADAMA BUTTERFLY

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March 05

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: MANON LESCAUT

Soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Roberto Alagna join forces in Puccini’s obsessive love story. Opolais sings the title role of the country girl who transforms herself into a Parisian temptress, while Alagna is the dashing student who desperately woos her. Director Richard Eyre places the action in occupied France in a film noir setting. “Desperate passion” […]

January 30

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: TURANDOT

GIACOMO PUCCINI 2015-2016 HD OPERA SEASON MARCH 1, 2014 @ 12:55 PM RUN TIME: 3 HRS 15 MIN Nina Stemme takes on the title role of the proud princess of ancient China, whose riddles doom every suitor who seeks her hand, opposite Marco Berti as Calàf, the brave prince who sings “Nessun dorma” and wins […]

January 16

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: LES PECHEURS DE PERLES

GEORGES BIZET 2015-2016 HD OPERA SEASON JANUARY 16, 2016 @ 12:55 PM RUN TIME: 2 HRS 45 MIN The Met’s acclaimed new production of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers), a rarity by the composer of Carmen that has not been staged by the company in a century.  Bizet’s sweeping romance tells the story […]

January 11

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: THE MAGIC FLUTE

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 2015-2016 HD OPERA SEASON DECEMBER 12, 2015 @ 12:55 PM RUN TIME: 1 HR 40 MIN Enter a magical world of dancing bears, giant birds, and colorful adventure in Mozart’s ever-popular masterpiece The Magic Flute. This abridged 100-minute version, sung in English, is perfect for opera fans of all ages. Tony® Award winner […]

October 17

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: OTELLO

GIUSEPPI VERDI 2015-2016 HD OPERA SEASON OCTOBER 17, 2015 @ 12:55 PM RUN TIME: 2 HRS 46 MIN Director Bartlett Sher’s new production of Verdi’s masterful Otello, which opened the Met season last September, returns for a second run, with Aleksandrs Antonenko in the title role and Željko Lučić as Iago reprising their performances. Hibla […]

April 25

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci

MASCAGNI   & LEONCAVALLO 2014-2015 HD OPERA SEASON NOVEMBER 22 @ 12:30 PM RUN TIME: 3 HRS 30 MIN Opera’s most enduring tragic double bill returns in an evocative new production from Sir David McVicar, who sets the action across two time periods but in the same Sicilian village. Marcelo Álvarez rises to the challenge […]

March 14

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: La Donna del Lago

GIACHINO ROSSINI 2014-2015 HD OPERA SEASON NOVEMBER 22 @ 12:55 PM RUN TIME: 3 HRS 30 MIN Bel canto superstars Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez join forces for this Rossini showcase of vocal virtuosity, set in the medieval Scottish highlands and based on a beloved novel by Sir Walter Scott. DiDonato is the “lady […]

February 14

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: Iolanta / Bluebeard’s Castle

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY / BELA BARTOK 2014-2015 HD OPERA SEASON FEBRUARY 14, 2015 @ 12:30PM RUN TIME: 3 HRS 40 MIN On the heels of her triumphant Met performances in Eugene Onegin, soprano Anna Netrebko takes on another Tchaikovsky heroine in the first opera of this intriguing double bill, consisting of an enchanting fairy tale (Iolanta) […]

January 31

MET OPERA LIVE IN HD: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN

JACQUES OFFENBACH 2014-2015 HD OPERA SEASON NOVEMBER 22 @ 12:55 PM RUN TIME: 3 HRS 25 MIN The Met’s effervescent production of Rossini’s classic comedy—featuring some of the most instantly recognizable melodies in all of opera—stars Isabel Leonard as the feisty Rosina, Lawrence Brownlee as her conspiring flame, and Christopher Maltman as the endlessly resourceful […]