Opera Catalog

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Salvatore Cammarano and Francesco Maria Piave

Bonynge; Sutherland, Pavarotti, Nucci, Jones, Furlanetto

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 55 min.

Anyone who was lucky enough to experience first-hand the magic of Joan Sutherland or Luciano Pavarotti will never forget it. And when they performed together, it was seldom anything less than an experience of a lifetime. This gala celebration showcases them in some of their most memorable roles and is a treasured reminder that not only did they hav...

Composer: Giacomo Puccini & Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Librettist: Giuseppe Adami & Ruggiero Leoncavallo

Levine; Stratas, Domingo, Pavarotti, Pons

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 19 min.

This remarkable video features two of opera’s greatest tenors—Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti—and the legendary singing actress Teresa Stratas, all conducted by the incomparable James Levine in a production by Franco Zeffirelli. Domingo stars as Luigi, the doomed lover of Giorgetta (Stratas), in Il Tabarro, Puccini’s dark tale of revenge. Jua...

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Marton, Troyanos, Cassilly, Weikl, Macurdy

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 9 min.

When this gorgeous production opened audiences gasped, then heartily applauded. Otto Schenk and Günther Schneider-Siemssen magnificently invoked the world of Wagner’s opera, from Venus’s erotic lair to the world of medieval pageantry. Within this stunning setting the cast of great singing actors are truly at home. Richard Cassilly is the tortured T...

Composer: Thomas Adès
Librettist: Libretto by Meredith Oakes, after the play by William Shakespeare

Adès; Luna, Leonard, Oke, Shrader, Keenlyside

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 22 min.

Composer Thomas Adès conducts the Met premiere of his powerful opera based on Shakespeare’s last play, in Robert Lepage’s brilliantly inventive production. Simon Keenlyside is the magician Prospero, who conjures the storm that shipwrecks his enemies and sets in motion the course of events. Rising Met stars Isabel Leonard and Alek Shrader are the yo...

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, swath...

Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Librettist: Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Conlon; Verrett, Pavarotti, MacNeil

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 4 min.

A stellar cast brings Puccini’s spellbinding opera to life, seizing every opportunity to thrill the audience. Luciano Pavarotti is Cavaradossi, the painter and political revolutionary in love with the beautiful and famous singer Tosca (the riveting Shirley Verrett). Rome’s diabolical chief of police, Baron Scarpia (Cornell MacNeil), wants Tosca for...

Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Librettist: Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa

Sinopoli; Behrens, Domingo, MacNeil

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 3 min.

Franco Zeffirelli’s productions are legendary—and for good reason. This new production of Puccini’s intensely dramatic opera had opened only two weeks before this performance and the excitement is palpable. Zeffirelli captures the overwhelming grandeur of Rome, as well as the dark undercurrent of decadence and corruption in the drama. Under his dir...

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 Flori...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave

Luisi; Dessay, Polenzani, Hvorostovsky

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 16 min.

Willy Decker’s stunning production of Verdi’s unforgettable drama stars the riveting singing actress Natalie Dessay as Violetta. Exhausted by her restless life as a courtesan, Violetta knows she will die soon. But then she meets the young and idealistic Alfredo (Matthew Polenzani), who offers her true love—with tragic consequences. Dmitri Hvorostov...

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Eaglen, Dalayman, Heppner, Ketelsen, Pape

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 58 min.

The utter timelessness of Wagner’s masterpiece is superbly captured in Dieter Dorn’s production, designed by Jürgen Rose. It strips away the usual visual ballast from the drama to reveal the searing emotional truth at its core. Under James Levine’s probing conducting the great Met orchestra is a central character in the story. Ben Heppner and Jane ...

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 siste...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele Bardare

Armiliato; Radvanovsky, Zajick, Álvarez, Hvorostovsky, Kocán

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 29 min.

David McVicar’s dramatic production, first seen in 2009, highlights the raw emotions that drive Verdi’s turbulent tale of love and revenge. Leonora (Sondra Radvanovsky) and the outlawed Manrico (Marcelo Álvarez) are passionately in love. But Manrico’s political enemy, Count di Luna (Dmitri Hvorostovsky), wants Leonore for himself. Meanwhile, Manric...