Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/01/1980
Patanè; Pavarotti, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Peters, Payne
MOD Video SID.18470317
Puccini
Original Air Date: 01/16/1982
Levine; Stratas, Carreras, Scotto, Stilwell, Morris
MOD AudioMOD Video SID.18470427
Puccini
Original Air Date: 01/16/1982
Levine; Stratas, Carreras, Scotto, Stilwell, Morris
MOD AudioMOD Video SID.18470746
Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/01/1980
Patanè; Pavarotti, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Peters, Payne
MOD Video SID.18470749
Zandonai
Original Air Date: 04/07/1984
Levine; Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil, Lewis
MOD AudioMOD Video SID.18480212
Zandonai
Original Air Date: 04/07/1984
Levine; Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil, Lewis
MOD AudioMOD Video SID.18480428
Zandonai
Original Air Date: 04/07/1984
Levine; Scotto, Domingo, MacNeil, Lewis
MOD AudioMOD Video SID.18480531
Gounod
Original Air Date: 12/10/2011
Nézet-Séguin; Kaufmann, Poplavskaya, Pape, Braun, Losier
Live in HDMOD Video SID.18490317
Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Live in HDMOD Video SID.18490422
Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Live in HDMOD Video SID.18490427
Gounod
Original Air Date: 12/10/2011
Nézet-Séguin; Kaufmann, Poplavskaya, Pape, Braun, Losier
Live in HDMOD Video SID.18490533
Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Live in HDMOD Video SID.18490743
Gounod
Original Air Date: 12/10/2011
Nézet-Séguin; Kaufmann, Poplavskaya, Pape, Braun, Losier
Live in HDMOD Video SID.18500101
SIMON BOCCANEGRA Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/29/1984
Levine; Milnes, Tomowa-Sintow, Moldoveanu, Plishka, Clark
SID.18500210
The main attraction here is Tomowa-Sintow who has only 7 Met broadcasts. This performance is also available on DVD. This performance lacks a certain spark, but the singing is very solid.
SIMON BOCCANEGRA Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/29/1984
Levine; Milnes, Tomowa-Sintow, Moldoveanu, Plishka, Clark
SID.18500529
The main attraction here is Tomowa-Sintow who has only 7 Met broadcasts. This performance is also available on DVD. This performance lacks a certain spark, but the singing is very solid.
LA TRAVIATA : Verdi
Cast: Nézet-Séguin; Damrau, Flórez, Kelsey
Live in HD
First Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Anita Rachvelishvili interviews Juan Diego Floréz
TOLL BROTHERS – METROPOLITAN OPERA QUIZ
Guest Artist: Bartlett Sher Host: Gerald Martin Moore; Panelists: Neal Goren, Roger Pines, and Melanie Spector
Second Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Anita Rachvelishvili interviews Diana Damrau
Backstage Pass: HD Host Anita Rachvelishvili interviews Quinn Kelsey
Radio Host Mary Jo Heath interviews Erin Morley about Magic Flute
Backstage Pass: General Manager Peter Gelb interviews Music Director Yannick Nézet-SéguinRAM
19th-century setting that changes with the seasons. Soprano Diana Damrau plays the tragic heroine, Violetta, and tenor Juan Diego Flórez returns to the Met for the first time since 2015 to sing the role of Alfredo, Violetta’s hapless lover. Baritone Quinn Kelsey is Alfredo’s father, Germont, who destroys their love. Later performances feature Anita Hartig, Stephen Costello, Artur Ruciński, and Plácido Domingo.
Production a gift of The Paiko Foundation
Major additional funding from Mercedes T. Bass, Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone, and Rolex
SIMON BOCCANEGRA Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/29/1984
Levine; Milnes, Tomowa-Sintow, Moldoveanu, Plishka, Clark
SID.18500747
The main attraction here is Tomowa-Sintow who has only 7 Met broadcasts. This performance is also available on DVD. This performance lacks a certain spark, but the singing is very solid.
Mozart
Original Air Date: 12/14/1985
Levine; Raimondi, Battle, Vaness, Allen, von Stade
MOD VideoMOD Audio SID.18510213
This performance surfaced in its video format both on MOoD, and in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box. This is a Ponnelle production, and has its usual pluses and minuses. Vaness misses just a bit of superstar quality (her Fiordiligi and Donna Anna are more distinctive).
Raimondi is not my favorite singer, but Levine is at his best in Mozart and the ensemble is very strong. I’ve enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this performance over the last year and have played it several times. This is his first season of Figaro at the Met, an opera he would conduct more than 77 times in 3 new productions (Ponnelle, Jonathan Miller, Richard Eyre.). Amazingly 3 of the matinee broadcasts have not been done again.
For the record: March 21, 1992 features Upshaw , Schuman, Von Stade, Furlanetto, Hampson, Moll December 5, 1998 features Bonney/Guyer, Lott, Mentzer, Croft, Terfel Feb. 12, 2005 features Rost, Watson, Perez, Relyea, Kwiecien.
One run of Nozze with Levine was not broadcast and that featured Dorothea Roschmann and Anja Harteros in their Met debuts. I remember these performances very well, and in the current Gelb/Sirius era, we would have had at least one if not a couple of these on the radio, The 1992 would be especially welcome for the Furlanetto/Hampson combination (which is also on their complete DG recording).
Mozart
Original Air Date: 12/14/1985
Levine; Raimondi, Battle, Vaness, Allen, von Stade
MOD VideoMOD Audio SID.18510532
This performance surfaced in its video format both on MOoD, and in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box. This is a Ponnelle production, and has its usual pluses and minuses. Vaness misses just a bit of superstar quality (her Fiordiligi and Donna Anna are more distinctive).
Raimondi is not my favorite singer, but Levine is at his best in Mozart and the ensemble is very strong. I’ve enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this performance over the last year and have played it several times. This is his first season of Figaro at the Met, an opera he would conduct more than 77 times in 3 new productions (Ponnelle, Jonathan Miller, Richard Eyre.). Amazingly 3 of the matinee broadcasts have not been done again.
For the record: March 21, 1992 features Upshaw , Schuman, Von Stade, Furlanetto, Hampson, Moll December 5, 1998 features Bonney/Guyer, Lott, Mentzer, Croft, Terfel Feb. 12, 2005 features Rost, Watson, Perez, Relyea, Kwiecien.
One run of Nozze with Levine was not broadcast and that featured Dorothea Roschmann and Anja Harteros in their Met debuts. I remember these performances very well, and in the current Gelb/Sirius era, we would have had at least one if not a couple of these on the radio, The 1992 would be especially welcome for the Furlanetto/Hampson combination (which is also on their complete DG recording).
Mozart
Original Air Date: 12/14/1985
Levine; Raimondi, Battle, Vaness, Allen, von Stade
MOD VideoMOD Audio SID.18510745
This performance surfaced in its video format both on MOoD, and in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box. This is a Ponnelle production, and has its usual pluses and minuses. Vaness misses just a bit of superstar quality (her Fiordiligi and Donna Anna are more distinctive).
Raimondi is not my favorite singer, but Levine is at his best in Mozart and the ensemble is very strong. I’ve enjoyed re-acquainting myself with this performance over the last year and have played it several times. This is his first season of Figaro at the Met, an opera he would conduct more than 77 times in 3 new productions (Ponnelle, Jonathan Miller, Richard Eyre.). Amazingly 3 of the matinee broadcasts have not been done again.
For the record: March 21, 1992 features Upshaw , Schuman, Von Stade, Furlanetto, Hampson, Moll December 5, 1998 features Bonney/Guyer, Lott, Mentzer, Croft, Terfel Feb. 12, 2005 features Rost, Watson, Perez, Relyea, Kwiecien.
One run of Nozze with Levine was not broadcast and that featured Dorothea Roschmann and Anja Harteros in their Met debuts. I remember these performances very well, and in the current Gelb/Sirius era, we would have had at least one if not a couple of these on the radio, The 1992 would be especially welcome for the Furlanetto/Hampson combination (which is also on their complete DG recording).
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.18520427
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.18520427
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.18520427
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.
RODELINDA:Handel
Original Air Date: 05/06/2006
Summers; Fleming, Scholl, van Rensburg, Blythe, Dumaux, Relyea
MOD Video SID.18520427
This performance in the second season of the production and Scholl’s first appearance at the Met. There was a third broadcast which includes an HD moviecast of Rodelinda with Fleming and Scholl under Bicket (whom I prefer to Summers) but the intervening 4 years do not benefit either Fleming or Scholl. This video is available also in MOoD so you can compare for yourself. I like Scholl much more than David Daniels so this is my preferred Rodelinda.
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Original Air Date: 01/12/2019
Noseda; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Beczala, Bosi, Maestri, Muraro
Live in HD SID.19020640
Based on a play by Eugène Scribe, the story was inspired by the real-life intrigues of famed actress Adrienne Lecouvreur and the legendary soldier—and lover—Maurice of Saxony. Cilea’s operatic retelling quickly became a favorite of charismatic soloists. The title character in particular is a quintessential diva role.
Pre-Show
Backstage Pass: General Manager Peter Gelb interviews Anna Netrebko
First Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Matthew Polenzani interviews Anita Rachvelishvilli
TOLL BROTHERS – METROPOLITAN OPERA QUIZ
Guest Artist: Paul Appleby Host: Brian Zeger
Panelists: Jon Tolins, George Preston, and Melanie Spector
Second Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Matthew Polenzani interviews Piotr Beczala
Backstage Pass: General Manager Peter Gelb interviews Director David McVicar
Backstage Pass: HD Host Matthew Polenzani interviews maestro Gianandrea Noseda
Drama Queen (Article by William Berger)
“On New Year’s Eve, Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur returns to the Met with soprano Anna Netrebko in the touchstone title role. She teams up with tenor Piotr Beczała as her lover, Maurizio—a brilliant pairing of stars fresh off a joint triumph in performances of Adriana in Vienna. Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili rounds out the all-star principal trio, and maestro Gianandrea Noseda is on the podium. Sir David McVicar’s new staging—the Met’s first new production of the work in more than half a century—embraces Cilea’s glamorous 18th-century Parisian setting but also mines for deeper artistic significance in an opera that is often underestimated.” (William Berger)
Co-Production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Wiener Staatsoper; San Francisco Opera; and L’Opéra National de Paris Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund
THE BARTERED BRIDE:Smetana
Original Air Date: 12/02/1978
Levine; Stratas, Gedda, Talvela, Vickers
MOD Video SID.19050103
This same cast telecast the opera 11 days earlier. The video of this performance is available in MOoD. Levine is very devoted to this score and did the joint production with Juilliard and the Met Young Artists in 2010. Vickers is cast very much against type and successful. To me one of the main downers is Talvela. My aural image of this opera is forever colored by the German language studio recording with Lorengar, Wunderlich, and Frick. Though in the “wrong” language, everything works there.
MANON:Massenet
Original Air Date: 04/07/2012
Luisi; Netrebko, Beczala, Szot
MOD Video SID.19050212
This audio was the first time the Met has rebroadcast the audio track of a Live in HD. This was a bit of a breakout part for Beczala who had slimmed down and certainly made an effective foil for the Netrebko Manon. I enjoyed her in the theatre even if she were no Patricia Brooks , or Faith Esham (both at City Opera, Wagner broadcast, and for me both better than the very good and much more famous Manon it finds him far from his two decade mastery of Sills.) When I want to listen to Manon, I need go no further than the early 19250s recording on EMI with Victoria de los Angeles and Henri LeGay under Pierre Monteux. Sirius does play the 1954 Met performance with VDLA and Cesare Valletti also under Monteux (and is available on MOoD). Still unbroadcast is the 1959 with VDLA and Gedda under Jean Morel. Wagner.
THE FIRST EMPEROR:Dun
Original Air Date: 01/13/2007
Dun; Domingo, Futral, Groves, Tian, DeYoung
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19050316
This is Domingo’s vehicle and the broadcast and HD performance from its premiere season. Sony issued a commercial DVD. Better to watch than listen to. I enjoyed seeing the production, and while it’s not on my weekly rotation, it held my interest more than Glass’ The Voyage. The simultaneous broadcast/HD moviecast is available on commercial DVD and MOoD (Metropolitan Opera on Demand).
THE BARTERED BRIDE:Smetana
Original Air Date: 12/02/1978
Levine; Stratas, Gedda, Talvela, Vickers
MOD Video SID.19050103
This same cast telecast the opera 11 days earlier. The video of this performance is available in MOoD. Levine is very devoted to this score and did the joint production with Juilliard and the Met Young Artists in 2010. Vickers is cast very much against type and successful. To me one of the main downers is Talvela. My aural image of this opera is forever colored by the German language studio recording with Lorengar, Wunderlich, and Frick. Though in the “wrong” language, everything works there.
MANON:Massenet
Original Air Date: 04/07/2012
Luisi; Netrebko, Beczala, Szot
MOD Video SID.19050212
This audio was the first time the Met has rebroadcast the audio track of a Live in HD. This was a bit of a breakout part for Beczala who had slimmed down and certainly made an effective foil for the Netrebko Manon. I enjoyed her in the theatre even if she were no Patricia Brooks , or Faith Esham (both at City Opera, Wagner broadcast, and for me both better than the very good and much more famous Manon it finds him far from his two decade mastery of Sills.) When I want to listen to Manon, I need go no further than the early 19250s recording on EMI with Victoria de los Angeles and Henri LeGay under Pierre Monteux. Sirius does play the 1954 Met performance with VDLA and Cesare Valletti also under Monteux (and is available on MOoD). Still unbroadcast is the 1959 with VDLA and Gedda under Jean Morel. Wagner.