Opera Catalog

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Eaglen, Voigt, Schwarz, Domingo, Morris, Halfvarson

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 46 min.

The waves of emotion that pour forth from the score make Die Walküre the most popular of the four Ring operas. The incandescent Plácido Domingo (Siegmund) and Deborah Voigt (Sieglinde) portray the lovers who are also brother and sister. Jane Eaglen is Brünnhilde, the Valkyrie of the title, who is stripped of her godhood by Wotan, sung by the incomparable James Morris. The glorious sound of the Met Orchestra is on vivid display, especially in the Magic Fire Music that ends the opera.

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Szell; Traubel, Bampton, Thorborg, Melchior, Janssen

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 3 min.

Even by the Met’s own high standards, this Walküre cast is nothing short of breathtaking. Lauritz Melchior’s truly heroic Siegmund beautifully complements Rose Bampton’s feminine, appealing Sieglinde. No wonder Helen Traubel (Brünnhilde) melts when she sees the depths of their love for each other. But Kerstin Thorborg’s imperious Fricka is unyielding in her demands that her husband, Wotan (Herbert Janssen), punish Siegmund for breaking the laws of marriage. With menacing, black-voiced bass Alexander Kipnis as the aggrieved Hunding, and conducted by George Szell, this is Wagner at his most stirring.

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Behrens, Norman, Ludwig, Lakes, Morris, Moll

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 50 min.

It is all about love—an overwhelming, all-consuming erotic love that will not be bound by law; and a father’s deep love for a son he must sacrifice and a daughter he must discipline at a profound cost to himself. In this incandescent performance conducted by James Levine, James Morris’s legendary Wotan is coupled with Hildegard Behrens’s searing Brünnhilde, and Jessye Norman and Gary Lakes are the passionate Siegmund and Sieglinde. The great Christa Ludwig is Wotan’s exacting wife Fricka.

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

von Karajan; Nilsson, Crespin, Veasey, Vickers, Adam, Talvela

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 29 min.

Wagner’s powerful and wrenching tale of ill-fated love requires a cast of great singing actors, and that’s just what this broadcast provides. Jon Vickers and Régine Crespin are the brother and sister who fall rapturously in love, only to be torn apart by death. The legendary Birgit Nilsson sings Brünnhilde, the Valkyrie of the title who is punished by her father (the magnificent Theo Adam as Wotan) for doing what he really wants her to do. Herbert von Karajan conducts his final Met performance.

Composer: Jules Massenet
Librettist: Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann

Bonynge; Crespin, Kraus, Carlson, Battle

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 12 min.

Goethe’s book, The Sorrows of Young Werther, first appeared in 1774, a powerful story of an impossible love which set off a wave of suicides across Europe. Authorities were horrified, but the emotions of the younger generation had been unleashed. Massenet’s opera captures all of the pathos and tragedy of Goethe’s story. Alfredo Kraus’s aristocratic but fervent singing conveys every nuance of Werther’s soul. The warm, feminine Régine Crespin is Charlotte, the duty-bound woman who returns his love but is ultimately unattainable.

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.

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Emanuel Schikaneder

Levine; Battle, Serra, Araiza, Moll, Hemm

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 41 min.

Mozart’s magical fairy tale has enchanted and moved audiences for more than 200 years—which is easy to understand after hearing this broadcast, brilliantly conducted by James Levine. The handsome, stalwart prince Tamino (Francisco Araiza) must fight supernatural forces to rescue the beautiful princess (Kathleen Battle) with whom he has fallen in love—after seeing only her portrait. But Tamino is in a strange land and doesn’t know whom he can trust, including Sarastro (Kurt Moll), the leader of a mysterious noble order.

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Emanuel Schikaneder

de Waart; Bonney, Dunleavy, Lopardo, Moll, Finley

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 33 min.

Mozart’s charming fairy tale has something for everyone: comedy, adventure, eternal wisdom, outrageous characters and, of course, a hero who dares everything for his true love. Barbara Bonney is Pamina, beautiful daughter of the Queen of the Night (Mary Dunleavy), who is kidnapped by Sarastro (a superb Kurt Moll). Prince Tamino (Frank Lopardo)—with the dubious help of the bird catcher Papageno, sung by Gerald Finley in his Met debut role—takes one look at her portrait, falls in love, and knows he must rescue her.