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High-Definition Videos

• Don Giovanni (Oct. 29, 2011)

  

  Don Giovanni
  (Oct. 29, 2011)

  Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  Librettist: Lorenzo Da Ponte
  

  Luisi; Rebeka, Frittoli, Erdmann, Vargas, Kwiecien, Pisaroni Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 55 min.

  Mariusz Kwiecien in the title role of the world’s most notorious lover leads a starry lineup of refined Mozartians in Michael Grandage’s elegant 2011 production. Luca Pisaroni sings Leporello, Giovanni’s servant who both admires and hates his master. Marina Rebeka as Donna Anna, Barbara Frittoli as Donna Elvira, and Mojca Erdmann as Zerlina are the trio of women seduced by Giovanni. Ramón Vargas plays Don Ottavio, Anna’s fiancé, and Joshua Bloom as Masetto and Štefan Kocán as the Commendatore round you the cast. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the orchestra and plays harpsichord continuo.

• Don Pasquale (Nov. 13, 2010)

  

  Don Pasquale
  (Nov. 13, 2010)

  Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
  Librettist: Giovanni Ruffini and Gaetano Donizetti
  

  Levine; Netrebko, Polenzani, Kwiecien, Del Carlo
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 22 min.

  Donizetti’s timeless comedy shines in Otto Schenk’s enchanting production, conducted by James Levine and featuring a remarkable cast. The incomparable Anna Netrebko is Norina, the young widow beloved by Ernesto (a suave Matthew Polenzani), who is about to be disinherited by his miserly uncle, Don Pasquale (John Del Carlo). It takes the clever scheming of Dr. Malatesta (Mariusz Kwiecien) to set things right and to teach the old curmudgeon a lesson—fits of temper, mistaken identities, and all kinds of comic confusion included.

• Faust (Dec. 10, 2011)

  

  Faust
  (Dec. 10, 2011)

  Composer: Charles Gounod
  Librettist: Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
  

  Nézet-Séguin; Poplavskaya, Kaufmann, Braun, Pape Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus

  Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 10 min.

  Tenor Jonas Kaufmann is riveting as the title character of Gounod’s popular opera, seen in this Live in HD presentation of Des McAnuff’s thrilling 2011 production that places the mythical and timeless story in an early 20th-century setting. René Pape as Méphistophélès is menacing and elegant in equal measure, and Marina Poplavskaya delivers a searingly intense portrayal of the innocent Marguerite. Russell Braun as her brother, Valentin, shines in his Act II aria. On the podium, Yannick Nézet-Séguin brings out all the lyricism and drama of Gounod’s score.

• Rodelinda (Dec. 3, 2011)

  

  Rodelinda
  (Dec. 3, 2011)

  Composer: George Frideric Handel
  Librettist: Nicola Haym
  

  Bicket; Fleming, Blythe, Scholl, Kaiser, Shenyang
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus

  Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 17 min.

  Renée Fleming stars in the title role of one of Handel’s greatest dramas, seen in Stephen Wadsworth’s 2004 Met premiere production. Rodelinda is faced with an impossible dilemma: With her husband Bertarido believed dead, she either has to marry the despised Grimoaldo (the elegant Joseph Kaiser), who has usurped her husband’s throne, or see him murder her son. But Bertarido (leading countertenor Andreas Scholl) is alive and eventually reclaims both throne and wife—and makes peace with his enemies. Stephanie Blythe is marvelous as Eduige, Bertarido’s sister, who is betrothed to Grimoaldo but turns against him. Baroque authority Harry Bicket conducts.

Classic Telecast Videos

• Un Ballo in Mas... (Feb. 16, 1980)

  

  Un Ballo in Maschera
  (Feb. 16, 1980)

  Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
  Librettist: Antonio Somma
  

  Patanè; Ricciarelli, Blegen, Berini, Pavarotti, Quilico
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 25 min.

  Director Elijah Moshinsky’s production sets Verdi’s poignant opera in colonial Boston, where Riccardo (Luciano Pavarotti) is the British governor, in love with his best friend’s wife. “Perhaps the most complete role for a tenor…a severe test, both vocally and dramatically,” is how Pavarotti described his role. Of course, he’s brilliant—with his distinctive plangent and ringing voice going straight to the heart of the role and to the hearts of the audience. A gorgeous Katia Ricciarelli is the woman he loves and Louis Quilico is her unforgiving husband.

• Francesca da Ri... (Apr. 7, 1984)

  

  Francesca da Rimini
  (Apr. 7, 1984)

  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.

• Das Rheingold (Apr. 23, 1990)

  

  Das Rheingold
  (Apr. 23, 1990)

  Composer: Richard Wagner
  Librettist: Richard Wagner
  

  Levine; Ludwig, Jerusalem, Morris, Wlaschiha
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 40 min.

  From the gorgeous scene deep in the river Rhine that opens the opera, up to the magic Rainbow Bridge that appears at the end, leading to a glistening Valhalla, Otto Schenk’s production captures the scenic world of Wagner’s Ring as brilliantly as James Levine and the Met orchestra capture the musical world. The cast is incomporable: an astounding James Morris as the young god Wotan, the great Christa Ludwig as his wife Fricka, incandescent Siegfried Jerusalem as Loge, the wily god of fire, and Ekkehard Wlaschiha as a complex Alberich.

• Les Troyens (Oct. 8, 1983)

  

  Les Troyens
  (Oct. 8, 1983)

  Composer: Hector Berlioz
  Librettist: Hector Berlioz
  

  Levine; Troyanos, Domingo, Norman, Monk
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

  Approximate running time: 4 hrs. 10 min.

  Berlioz’s colossal masterpiece requires stupendous forces—dozens of soloists, enormous chorus, orchestra and ballet, a superb conductor who understands the uniqueness of the score—plus a production that does visual justice to the work. “A stupendous achievement” was one critic’s assessment of Peter Wexler’s inventive production. And with James Levine’s wizardry galvanizing the marvelous all-star cast, this is truly a gem. Plácido Domingo is the legendary hero Aeneas, Jessye Norman the obsessed prophetess Cassandra, and Tatiana Troyanos is Queen Dido, who commits suicide when Aeneas leaves her.

Audio-only Performances

• L'Elisir d'Amor... (Mar. 31, 2012)

  

  L'Elisir d'Amore
  (Mar. 31, 2012)

  Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
  Librettist: Felice Romani
  

  Renzetti; Damrau, Flórez, Kwiecien, Corbelli
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 23 min.

  One of opera’s most beloved comedies receives an extraordinary performance in this broadcast with a quartet of bel canto stars in the leading roles. Juan Diego Flórez is Nemorino, the country lad in love with the beautiful (and wealthy) Adina, played by Diana Damrau. Mariusz Kwiecien sings Belcore, the vainglorious sergeant who flirts with her. And Alessandro Corbelli is Dulcamara, the loveable quack and dispenser of the elixir of the opera’s title. The audience’s euphoric reaction prompts an encore of Nemorino’s “Una furtiva lagrima.”

• La Fille du Rég... (Dec. 24, 2011)

  

  La Fille du Régiment
  (Dec. 24, 2011)

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

  Abel; Machaidze, Murray, Brownlee, Muraro
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 5 min.

  Nino Machaidze is Marie, the charming tomboy and “daughter of the regiment,” in this sparkling performance of Donizetti’s light-hearted comedy. She is joined by a stellar cast, including Lawrence Brownlee as her beloved Tonio, Ann Murray as the Marquise of Berkenfield, Maurizio Muraro as Sergeant Sulpice, and the great Kiri Te Kanawa in a cameo appearance as the pompous Duchess of Krakenthorp.

• Götterdämmerung (Jan. 27, 1962)

  

  Götterdämmerung
  (Jan. 27, 1962)

  Composer: Richard Wagner
  Librettist: Richard Wagner
  

  Leinsdorf; Nilsson, Hopf, Mittelmann, Frick
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 4 hrs. 3 min.

  This performance marked Birgit Nilsson’s first Met broadcast in one of her most celebrated roles, Brünnhilde, in the Ring cycle’s final installment. Hans Hopf sings Siegfried, the man whose heroic deeds eventually bring about the twilight of the gods, and the sensational Gottlob Frick is Hagen. With its story of love, treachery, murder—and, ultimately, redemption—Götterdämmerung brings Wagner’s epic to a monumental conclusion. The great Erich Leinsdorf leads the Met Orchestra and Chorus.

• Madama Butterfl... (Dec. 17, 2011)

  

  Madama Butterfly
  (Dec. 17, 2011)

  Composer: Giacomo Puccini
  Librettist: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
  

  Domingo; Zhang, Zifchak, Smith, Salsi
  
  Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

  Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 22 min.

  Puccini’s heartbreaking drama comes to life with Liping Zhang and Robert Dean Smith in the leading roles of the young Japanese geisha and the American Navy lieutenant whose arranged marriage ends in tragedy. Maria Zifchak is Suzuki, the faithful servant, and Luca Salsi sings U.S. consul Sharpless. Plácido Domingo conducts one of the most romantic and colorful scores in the repertoire.