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High-Definition Videos

• The Audition (Apr. 1, 2007)

  

  The Audition
  (Apr. 1, 2007)

  Composer: Various
  Librettist: Various
  

  Armiliato; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

  Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 47 min.

  The Audition, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, looks at the intense pressures young opera singers face as they struggle to succeed in one of the most difficult professions in the performing arts. The feature-length documentary takes you behind the scenes at the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions, where each year thousands of hopefuls compete for a cash prize, the chance to sing on the Met stage—and the opportunity to launch a major operatic career.

• Thaïs (Dec. 20, 2008)

  

  Thaïs
  (Dec. 20, 2008)

  Composer: Jules Massenet
  Librettist: Louis Gallet
  

  López-Cobos; Fleming, Schade, Hampson
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 18 min.

  When the most voluptuous, sought-after courtesan in the world meets an ascetic monk whose life is devoted to God, you know erotic sparks are going to fly. And when the clash takes place in a glorious, but rarely performed, opera by Massenet, it’s a delight to the ear just as much as to the eye. Renée Fleming is every inch the glamorous Thais, swathed in elegant gowns designed by Christian Lacroix. Thomas Hampson is the tortured man of God. This production by John Cox, which premiered in December 2008, brilliantly sets the stage for a confrontation as old as civilization itself.

• Tosca (Oct. 10, 2009)

  

  Tosca
  (Oct. 10, 2009)

  Composer: Giacomo Puccini
  Librettist: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
  

  Colaneri; Mattila, Álvarez, Gagnidze
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 17 min.

  Puccini’s musical thriller of lust, murder, and politics is one of the most dramatically riveting operas in the repertoire. Luc Bondy’s production, with sets by Richard Peduzzi and costumes by Academy Award-winning designer Milena Canonero, opened the Met’s 2009–10 season. Karita Mattila stars as the beautiful and dangerously impulsive singer Floria Tosca. Marcelo Álvarez is her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, a political enemy of the powerful chief of police, Scarpia (George Gagnidze), who wants Tosca for himself.

• Tristan und Iso... (Mar. 22, 2008)

  

  Tristan und Isolde
  (Mar. 22, 2008)

  Composer: Richard Wagner
  Librettist: Richard Wagner
  

  Levine; Voigt, DeYoung, Smith, Schulte, Salminen
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 4 hrs. 20 min.

  James Levine’s love for this monumental opera shimmers throughout this exciting performance. It was an afternoon to remember: Met favorite Deborah Voigt singing her first run as the proud Irish princess opposite tenor Robert Dean Smith—making an astonishing Met debut in front of a live worldwide movie-theater audience. Michelle DeYoung was a sisterly Brangäne and Matti Salminen an imposing King Marke.

Classic Telecast Videos

• The Bartered Br... (Nov. 21, 1978)

  

  The Bartered Bride
  (Nov. 21, 1978)

  Composer: Bedřich Smetana
  Librettist: Karel Sabina
  

  Levine; Stratas, Gedda, Vickers, Talvela
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 21 min.

  Every bit of the spontaneous charm that infuses Smetana’s colorful opera is conveyed in this English-language performance by a spectacular cast. Teresa Stratas as Mařenka is determined to marry her lover Jenik (Nicolai Gedda), but her father is under obligation to Micha and wants her to marry Micha’s son—the stuttering, rather foolish Vašek (Jon Vickers in a tour-de-force comic performance). Fortunately Jeník has a secret of his own and it all ends well. James Levine and the Met orchestra bring out the Bohemian color and rhythm of this enchanting score, and Pavel Smok’s choreography adds a delightful flair.

• Don Pasqaule (Jan. 11, 1979)

  

  Don Pasqaule
  (Jan. 11, 1979)

  Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
  Librettist: Giovanni Ruffini and Gaetano Donizetti
  

  Rescigno; Sills, Kraus, Hagegård, Castel, Bacquier
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 13 min.

  This John Dexter production, designed by Desmond Heeley, was a parting gift to the great American soprano Beverly Sills, who bid farewell to the Met as Norina, the smart young widow at the center of Donizetti’s comedy. The sensational Alfredo Kraus sings her beloved Ernesto. Håkan Hagegård, in his Met debut role and season, is Dr. Malatesta, the man who helps the young couple trick the crusty old bachelor of the title (Gabriel Bacquier at his comical best) into a fake marriage. This being a Donizetti comedy, it all turns out perfectly well at the end—and getting there is pure operatic fun.

• Die Fledermaus (Dec. 31, 1986)

  

  Die Fledermaus
  (Dec. 31, 1986)

  Composer: Johann Strauss
  Librettist: Karl Haffner and Richard Genée
  

  Tate; Te Kanawa, Blegen, Troyanos, Rendall, Hagegård, Devlin
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 38 min.

  “A sumptuous fantasy out of some grand hotel of the Belle Epoch”—this was one critic’s comment when this production of the most Viennese of all operettas opened at the Met. Staged by Vienna’s own Otto Schenk (who also does a star turn as the jailer Frosch), with gorgeous sets and costumes by Günther Schneider-Siemssen and Peter J. Hall, it’s the essence of a carefree, slightly naughty take on the myth of the Imperial city by the Danube. Of course it helps to have an all-star cast: from Tatiana Troyanos’s arch, smoldering Prince Orlofsky to Kiri Te Kanawa’s dreamy, elegant Rosalinde to Judith Blegen’s pert Adele. No wonder all the men involved are completely smitten—and everybody is having th...

• Lucia di Lammer... (Nov. 13, 1982)

  

  Lucia di Lammermoor
  (Nov. 13, 1982)

  Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
  Librettist: Salvadore Cammarano
  

  Bonynge; Sutherland, Kraus, Elvira, Plishka
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 16 min.

  This telecast offers a rare opportunity to see the legendary Joan Sutherland in the role that first catapulted her to international stardom. She drove audiences wild by the way her opulent voice caressed the music’s long phrases and sprinted effortlessly through the fiendish runs, trills, embellishments and stratospheric high notes. One of the glories of the operatic world, her portrayal of Donizetti’s hapless heroine is a multifaceted and moving characterization. The incomparable tenor Alfredo Kraus is Edgardo, the man Lucia loves but cannot have.

Audio-only Performances

• Benvenuto Celli... (Dec. 27, 2003)

  

  Benvenuto Cellini
  (Dec. 27, 2003)

  Composer: Hector Berlioz
  Librettist: Léon de Wailly and Auguste Barbier
  

  Levine; Bayrakdarian, Giordani, Coleman-Wright, Del Carlo, Lloyd
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 46 min.

  Berlioz’s opera about the legendary hot-blooded Florentine sculptor and goldsmith is a rarity. But under James Levine’s masterful conducting the huge and complex score dazzles like one of Cellini’s artworks. Marcello Giordani is Benventuo Cellini, who must finish a statue of Perseus for Pope Clement (Robert Lloyd) by nightfall or be hanged as a murderer and rapist. Against all the odds, including the conniving of his vicious rival Fieramosca (Peter Coleman-Wright), Cellini’s artistry triumphs, and he can finally be with the woman he loves, Teresa (Isabel Bayrakdarian).

• Don Giovanni (Feb. 14, 1959)

  

  Don Giovanni
  (Feb. 14, 1959)

  Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Librettist: Lorenzo da Ponte
  

  Böhm; Steber, Della Casa, Hurley, Valletti, London, Flagello
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 45 min.

  When George London stepped on stage as the legendary lover Don Giovanni, audiences gasped. Handsome and effortlessly charismatic, he promised to fulfill every woman’s desire. No wonder the beautiful Lisa Della Casa (Elvira) didn’t want to let him go, and Eleanor Steber (Anna) wants to put off her wedding for another year. Ezio Flagello is the servant Leporello and Cesare Valletti is a very aristocratic Don Ottavio. The great conductor Karl Böhm revisits the opera of his Met debut.

• Mignon (Jan. 27, 1945)

  

  Mignon
  (Jan. 27, 1945)

  Composer: Ambroise Thomas
  Librettist: Jules Barbier and Michel Carré,
  

  Pelletier; Stevens, Benzell, Melton, Pinza,
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 18 min.

  In this performance, the sensational Risë Stevens sings one of her signature roles, the shy but loving Mignon. It's a true operatic rarity, not heard at the Met since Stevens last did it in 1949, and it overflows with astonishing musical variety. The opera has at least two roles dear to the hearts of great singing actors: Mignon, and old Lothario, who turns out to be her father - here the superb Ezio Pinza in a stellar performance. Mimi Benzell is the flirtatious Philine, and James Melton is Wilhelm Meister, Mignon's true love.

• Werther (Apr. 16, 1988)

  

  Werther
  (Apr. 16, 1988)

  Composer: Jules Massenet
  Librettist: Édouard Blau
  

  Fournet; von Stade, Kraus, Stilwell
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 13 min.

  Werther is one of the iconic figures in literature, an innocent young man who feels nature deeply and loves unreservedly. In Massenet’s alluring operatic version, Alfredo Kraus magnificently captures every nuance of this complex character—his aristocratic bearing and pure soul, his anguish that the only woman he can love is promised to another man, and finally the despair that leads to his suicide. Frederica von Stade sings Charlotte, the woman who returns Werther’s feelings but honors her promise to someone else. Dawn Upshaw is a sparkling Sophie, Charlotte’s younger sister.