Opera Catalog

Composer: Umberto Giordano
Librettist: Arturo Colautti

Abbado; Freni, Domingo, Croft, Arteta, Thibaudet

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 51 min.

Giordano’s rarely performed opera is brought to life by a superb cast and the idiomatic, passionate conducting of Roberto Abbado. The beloved Mirella Freni is seen in a brilliant star turn as Fedora Romazov, the Russian princess who falls in love with her fiancé’s murderer (Count Loris) only to commit suicide when he denounces her. Sensational Plácido Domingo is a passionate Loris. Together they simply ignite the stage. Pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet provides even more glamour by entertaining at the soirée in Act II. The sumptuous production is by Beppe De Tomasi, with sets by Ferruccio Villagrossi, and costumes by Pier Luciano Cavallotti.

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Librettist: Joseph von Sonnleithner

Levine; Mattila, Heppner, Struckmann, Pape

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 3 min.

Jürgen Flimm’s haunting production of Beethoven’s only opera brings the work’s desperate plea for freedom and justice into the modern era, reminding us just how powerful and urgent its story is. Under James Levine’s passionate leadership, Beethoven’s score blazes, as does the superb cast. Karita Mattila is Leonore, the faithful wife who disguises herself as a man to search for her husband Florestan (Ben Heppner), unjustly imprisoned by his political enemy, Pizarro (Falk Struckmann). René Pape is Rocco, the jailor caught between conscience and duty.

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Librettist: Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard

Armiliato; Dessay, Palmer, Flórez, Corbelli

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 19 min.

Madcap physical comedy and impeccable coloratura come together for Natalie Dessay’s indelible portrayal of the feisty tomboy raised by a regiment of French soldiers. Juan Diego Flórez is the young Swiss villager who conquers her heart—and a slew of high Cs. Also featuring uproarious performances by Felicity Palmer and Alessandro Corbelli, as well as a cameo by Tony Award winner Marian Seldes, this laugh-out-loud production was a runaway hit that left audiences exhilarated.

Composer: Tan Dun
Librettist: Tan Dun and Ha Jin

Dun; Futral, Domingo, Groves

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 57 min.

The incomparable Plácido Domingo began a new chapter in his legendary Met career when he created the role of Emperor Qin in the world premiere of Tan Dun’s epic opera. Staged by revered film director Zhang Yimou, The First Emperor is both a rich pageant of ancient China and a fascinating study of the ruler who united it. Conducted by the composer, it also stars Paul Groves and Elizabeth Futral and features a riveting turn by Peking Opera performer Wu Hsing-Kuo as the Yin-Yang Master.

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave

Levine; Price, Giacomini, Nucci, Giaiotti

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 59 min.

Verdi painted an immense canvas with this dark but tuneful opera, vividly brought to life in John Dexter’s production, with sets by the great Eugene Berman. The legendary Leontyne Price is seen in one of her greatest roles, Leonora. Price’s soaring voice encompasses every nuance of Leonora’s emotion as she moves from joy through resignation to ultimate heartbreak. James Levine’s brilliant leading of the Met orchestra and chorus is a lesson in Verdi style. Giuseppe Giacomini is Alvaro, the man Leonora loves, and Leo Nucci is Don Carlo, the dark instrument of their Fate.

Composer: Riccardo Zandonai
Librettist: Gabriele D'Annunzio

Levine; Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 29 min.

This sumptuous production by Piero Faggioni (sets by Ezio Frigerio and costumes by Franca Squarciapino) seduced Met audiences into the enchanting world of Zandonai’s rarely heard opera. His retelling of Dante’s story of the immortal passion of Paolo and Francesca in 13th century Italy is as musically elegant and beautiful as the details of the production on stage. James Levine’s fervent conducting galvanizes the fabulous cast: Renata Scotto and Plácido Domingo as the lovers with Cornell MacNeil as an appropriately brutal Giovanni.

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Behrens, Jerusalem, Raffell, Salminen

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 4 hrs. 35 min.

The stupendous climax to Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle is brilliantly realized by the Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production and byJames Levine’s monumental conducting. The Met orchestra, chorus, and an all-star cast make this Götterdämmerung one that truly rises to the occasion. Hildegard Behrens’s Brünnhilde must be experienced to be believed, as does Matti Salminen’s richly sung, domineering Hagen. At the center of the drama is Siegfried Jerusalem as Siegfried, who does not realize he has been drawn into a plot of betrayal until it is too late. Christa Ludwig is magnetic as Waltraute and Ekkehard Wlaschiha is a compelling Alberich.

Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck
Librettist: Adelheid Wette

Jurowski; Coote, Schäfer, Plowright, Held, Langridge

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 0 min.

This deliciously dark take on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tale, appealing to audiences of all ages, was part of the Met’s popular English-language holiday series. Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer star as the famous siblings lost in the woods, who battle the ravenous Witch—a zany portrayal by tenor Philip Langridge—while the Met orchestra, under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski, glories in the rich, folk-inspired score.

Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck
Librettist: Adelheid Wette

Fulton; von Stade, Blegen, Kraft, Devlin, Elias

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 42 min.

Director Nathaniel Merrill and designer Robert O’Hearn work operatic magic in this brilliant production of Humperdinck’s cherished favorite. What Christmas is complete without this sumptuous musical retelling of the classic fairy tale, replete with guardian angels, a sandman, dew fairy, and, of course, a witch and her enticing gingerbread house. This performance, sung in English, features Frederica von Stade as the loveable but mischievous Hansel and Judith Blegen as his charming sister Gretel. Rosalind Elias is the evil Witch.

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Giambattista Varesco

Levine; Pavarotti, Behrens, von Stade, Cotrubas

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 1 min.

Mozart’s once-rare opera has become a favorite at the Met, thanks to James Levine’s loving conducting of the score and this stunning production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. In fact, this telecast follows the Met’s premiere of the opera by only a few weeks, fully capturing the excitement of the audience as it discovered not only a masterpiece, but also a thrilling evening in the theater. Luciano Pavarotti is in resplendent form in the title role of the King of Crete, with Frederica von Stade as a memorable Idamante, his son, who is in love with Ilia, a touching Ileana Cotrubas. Hildegard Behrens’s Elettra is a tour de force.

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Marton, Rysanek, Hofmann, Roar, Macurdy

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 43 min.

Wagner’s Romantic opera demands singing actors who can truly inhabit their parts, and that’s just what we have here. Is it possible for a Knight of the Holy Grail to look more enticing than Peter Hofmann? No wonder Elsa (Eva Marton) falls in love at first sight. Marton’s heroine is innocent, but she is also a passionate, real-life young woman—which is good, because Leonie Rysanek is positively demented as Ortrud, the sorceress who accuses Elsa and Lohengrin of using magic. With James Levine’s superb conducting, the orchestra and chorus are similarly magical.

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.