The Metropolitan Opera
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Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Librettist: Emanuel Schikaneder
Levine; Huang, Miklósa, Polenzani, Pape, GunnMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 3 min. 53 sec.
This was the groundbreaking broadcast that launched the Met’s heralded Live in HD series, seen by opera lovers in movie theaters around the world. Adults and children alike were enchanted by the whimsical humor and breathtaking puppetry of Julie Taymor’s hit production, presented in a shortened English-language version. Under the baton of Maestro James Levine, a winning ensemble cast – including Nathan Gunn, Ying Huang, Matthew Polenzani, Erika Miklosa, and René Pape – brings fresh life to Mozart's timeless fairy tale.
Composer: Engelbert Humperdinck Librettist: Adelheid Wette
Jurowski; Coote, Schäfer, Plowright, Held, LangridgeMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 min. 57 sec.
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: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Librettist: Lorenzo da Ponte
Levine; Fleming, Bartoli, Mentzer, Croft, TerfelMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 4 min. 34 sec.
The Met assembled a vocal dream team for Jonathan Miller’s stylish production of the eternal Mozart masterpiece: Renée Fleming as the Countess, Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna, and Bryn Terfel as Figaro. With James Levine—one of the world’s great conductors of Mozart—in the pit, Bartoli interpolating two rarely heard alternate arias, and Dwayne Croft as the Count and Susanne Mentzer as Cherubino, this is a performance for the record books.
Composer: Tan Dun Librettist: Tan Dun and Ha Jin
Dun; Futral, Domingo, GrovesMetropolitan 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: Charles Gounod Librettist: Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
Domingo; Anna Netrebko, Roberto Alagna, Nathan Gunn, Robert LloydMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 51 min.
The world’s most famous love story comes to operatic life with superstars Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna playing the star-crossed young couple. The abandon and ardor of their performances brought audiences to their feet in both the opera house and in movie theaters. And the unique, up-close-and-personal camerawork takes the viewer onstage to witness some of the production’s most memorable images and sultriest moments as never before.
Composer: Richard Strauss Librettist: Hedwig Lachmann after Oscar Wilde
Summers; Mattila, Komlósi, Uusitalo, Begley, KaiserMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 46 min.
It is no wonder that Met audiences have gone wild over Karita Mattila’s sizzling Salome. Indisputably one of the greatest Salomes of our time, Mattila utterly incarnates Oscar Wilde’s petulant, willful, and lust-driven heroine. With Strauss’s groundbreaking music magnifying the degenerate atmosphere and building the erotic tension, this is one opera that is as shocking today as it was at its premiere in 1905.
Composer: Richard Wagner Librettist: Richard Wagner
Levine; Voigt, DeYoung, Smith, Schulte, SalminenMetropolitan 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.
Composer: Giacomo Puccini Librettist: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa
Levine; Scotto, Niska, Pavarotti, WixellMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 2 min.
Puccini’s heartbreaking story of young love in the garrets of Belle Epoque Paris has attracted many famous singers through the years. But with James Levine at the helm and the starry duo of Luciano Pavarotti and Renata Scotto as Rodolfo and Mimě, every bit of emotion in the score pours across the footlights and seduces the audience. In this case, the audience was in the millions since this was the very first in the “Live from the Met” series of telecasts. The evocative production is by Fabrizio Melano, designed by Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Levine; Fleming, Kringelborn, Hong, Groves, Terfel, Furlanetto, RelyeaMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 59 min.
Franco Zeffirelli uses his unique theatrical magic on Mozart’s dark opera about the legendary lover, Don Giovanni. The result is a thrilling production that underlines the dramatic flair of Mozart’s passionate score. Under James Levine’s stylish leadership, the cast delivers brilliantly: Bryn Terfel is Don Giovanni, the man who dares to be himself and pays the ultimate price. Renée Fleming, Solveig Kringelborn, and Hei-Kyung Hong are the women he pursues, and Ferruccio Furlanetto is Leporello, the Don’s servant and alter ego.
Composer: Giacomo Puccini Librettist: Marco Praga, Domenico Oliva, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa, Giulio Ricordi
Levine; Scotto, Domingo, ElviraMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 10 min.
All the throbbing eroticism—and ultimate heartbreak—of Puccini’s youthful score is unleashed by James Levine and his top-flight cast. Plácido Domingo is Des Grieux, the handsome, headstrong young aristocrat who falls head over heels for the enticing, impetuous Manon Lescaut (Renata Scotto). Manon returns his love, but her obsession with luxury ruins them both. Gian Carlo Menotti’s opulent production, with sets and costumes by Desmond Heeley, superbly captures the colorful world of 18th century France.
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Librettist: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Gergiev; Gorchakova, Söderström, Domingo, Hvorostovsky, PutilinMetropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet
Elijah Moshinsky’s atmospheric production, designed by Mark Thompson, sets the stage for this gripping performance of Tchaikovsky’s passionate setting of Pushkin’s classic novel. Valery Gergiev’s idiomatic and authoritative conducting inspires a superb cast, headed by Plácido Domingo (Ghermann), breathtaking in his portrayal of a man unraveling toward suicide. Galina Gorchakova is Lisa, the woman he loves and destroys, Dmitri Hvorostovsky lends a superb voice and regal bearing to Prince Yeletsky; and Elisabeth Söderström is hair-raising as the old Countess. Olga Borodina is Paulina and Nikolai Putilin is Count Tomsky.
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Librettist: Caterino Mazzolà
Levine; Riegel, Connell, Troyanos, MurrayMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 14 min.
Under James Levine’s persuasive and loving leadership, this first-rate cast demonstrates Mozart’s late opera crackles with passion and drama. The Roman emperor Tito (Kenneth Riegel) is besieged by death plots, a massive fire in Rome, and his best friend’s betrayal. The young Roman patrician Sesto, sung by Tatiana Troyanos in one of her greatest performances, is besotted by the vengeful and manipulative Vitellia (Elizabeth Connell). An enchanting Gail Robinson is Servilia, Sesto’s sister, who is desired by the emperor himself but in love with another man.
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti Librettist: Georges Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard
Bonynge; Sutherland, Resnik, Pavarotti, CorenaMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 47 min.
Donizetti’s comedy gets a thrilling combination of brilliant singing and impish humor to make it fizz like Champagne. Joan Sutherland, the charming tomboy Marie, has fallen for Luciano Pavarotti as Tonio, who shows how happy he is by nailing nine high Cs in a single aria. Marie’s “aunt” fights an uphill battle to turn the girl into a proper young society lady, until Marie is rescued by Tonio and the entire regiment of “fathers” who have raised her. “Delightful” doesn’t begin to describe it.
Composer: Jules Massenet Librettist: Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille
López-Cobos; Fleming, Giordano, Chaignaud, TianMetropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 27 min.
Massenet had a special gift for creating beguiling female characters that audiences can never get enough of—and that great sopranos long to perform. For many opera lovers, the enchanting but destructive Manon counts among his greatest achievements. Certainly Renée Fleming in the title role gives a dazzling tour de force: she’s equally at home with Manon’s spectacular coloratura singing and the gripping, overwhelming passion the character has for Des Grieux (Massimo Giordano).
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.
