Opera Catalog

Composer: Jacques Offenbach
Librettist: Jules Barbier and Michel Carré

Dutoit; Bradley, Alexander, Troyanos, Shicoff, Morris

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 46 min.

Otto Schenk’s brilliant production captures both the dark romanticism of the story as well as its fairy-tale magic. It is a superb setting for Neil Shicoff’s vivid portrayal of the tortured poet Hoffmann, as he recounts the loves of his life and the way he has been foiled by his nemesis—a marvelous James Morris in a tour-de-force performance of the...

Composer: Jacques Offenbach
Librettist: Jules Barbier

Levine; Kim, Netrebko, Gubanova, Calleja, Held

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 49 min.

Bartlett Sher’s imaginative production, with sets by Michael Yeargan and costumes by Catherine Zuber, explores all the riches of Offenbach’s fantastical tale. Joseph Calleja is the poet Hoffmann who is enthralled by a variety of women—neither of which turns out to be the perfect creature he envisions. Kathleen Kim scales the vocal heights of the me...

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Lorenzo da Ponte

Levine; Vaness, Hadley, Mentzer, Croft, Bartoli, Allen

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 11 min.

Mozart’s sophisticated opera about two men seeing just how faithful their fiancées are has seldom been so marvelously done. Leslie Koenig’s production, designed by Michael Yeargan, is as witty and charming as the music, conducted by James Levine. Carol Vaness and Susanne Mentzer are the two sisters being tested by their fiancées, Jerry Hadley and D...

Composer: Hector Berlioz
Librettist: Almire Gandonnière and Hector Berlioz

Levine; Graham, Giordani, Relyea

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chorus and Ballet

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 22 min.

Conducted by James Levine, Robert Lepage’s stunning production—with its brilliant marriage of art and technology—thrilled HD audiences around the world. In Berlioz’s rarely performed vision of the immortal Faust legend, Marcello Giordani is a fiery title hero whose impulsive bargain with Méphistophélès (a commanding John Relyea) proves fatal. Susan...

Composer: John Adams
Librettist: Peter Sellars

Gilbert; Finley, Cooke, Fink, Glenn

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 46 min.

John Adams’s mesmerizing score, in the powerful production of Penny Woolcock, tells the story of one of the pivotal moments in human history—the creation of the atomic bomb. Conducted by Alan Gilbert in his Met debut, this gripping opera presents the human face of the scientists, military men, and others who were involved in the project, as they wr...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Original French libretto by François Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the play by Friedrich Schiller. Italian translation by Achille de Lauzières and Angelo Zanardini

Levine; Scotto, Troyanos, Moldoveanu, Milnes, Plishka

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 22 min.

James Levine leads an all-star ensemble in this memorable telecast of Verdi’s most ambitious opera, seen in John Dexter’s classic production. Renata Scotto is Elizabeth of Valois, the French princess who becomes the wife of Philip II, King of Spain (Paul Plishka)—although she loves his son, Don Carlo (Vasile Moldoveanu). Sherill Milnes sings Posa, ...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Original French libretto by François Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the play by Friedrich Schiller

Nézet-Séguin; Poplavskaya, Smirnova, Alagna, Keenlyside, Furlanetto

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 35 min.

Director Nicholas Hytner, who made his Met debut with this production, brings out all the passionate intensity that is at the heart of Verdi’s monumental drama. Don Carlo (Roberto Alagna), the Spanish crown prince, and Elizabeth of Valois (Marina Poplavskaya), daughter of the King of France, fall in love, only to be torn apart by international poli...

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...

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Lorenza da Ponte

Levine; Vaness, Mattila, Upshaw, Hadley, Ramey, Cokorinos

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 58 min.

Every woman wants him, every man wants to be him: Mozart’s version of the irresistible rogue who brings excitement with him and leaves destruction it his wake has always attracted top singing actors, as in this performance brilliantly led by James Levine. Samuel Ramey is Don Giovanni, pursued by the incandescent Karita Mattila (Donna Elvira) in her...

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist: Lorenzo da Ponte

Levine; Fleming, Kringelborn, Hong, Groves, Terfel, Furlanetto, Relyea

Metropolitan 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 ...

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 schem...

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Librettist: Giovanni Ruffini and Gaetano Donizetti

Rescigno; Sills, Kraus, Hagegård, Castel, Bacquier

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 13 min.

This John Dexter production, designed by Desmond Heeley, was a parting gift to the great American soprano Beverly Sills, who bid farewell to the Met as Norina, the smart young widow at the center of Donizetti’s comedy. The sensational Alfredo Kraus sings her beloved Ernesto. Håkan Hagegård, in his Met debut role and season, is Dr. Malatesta, the ma...