THE FIRST EMPEROR:Dun
Dun; Domingo, Futral, Groves, Tian, DeYoung
Original Air Date: 01/13/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20030101
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 FIRST EMPEROR:Dun
Dun; Domingo, Futral, Groves, Tian, DeYoung
Original Air Date: 01/13/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20040316
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 FIRST EMPEROR:Dun
Dun; Domingo, Futral, Groves, Tian, DeYoung
Original Air Date: 01/13/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20040636
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 FIRST EMPEROR:Dun
Dun; Domingo, Futral, Groves, Tian, DeYoung
Original Air Date: 01/13/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20040749
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).
Berlioz
Original Air Date: 01/29/2020
Gardner; Garanca, Hymel, Abdrazakov
SID.20050000
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST:Berlioz
Gardner; Garanca, Hymel, Abdrazakov
Original Air Date: 01/29/2020
SID.20050321
Berlioz’s compelling take on the Faust legend returns for the first time in a decade, with an ideal lineup of stars. High-flying tenors Bryan Hymel and Michael Spyres sing the doomed and besotted Faust, opposite dazzling mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the forsaken Marguerite and bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the malevolent Méphistophélès. Edward Gardner conducts. Please note that these are concert presentations on the Met stage. The decision to present La Damnation de Faust in its more usual concert version is driven by the unanticipated technical demands of reviving the Met’s staged production, which proved to be impossible to accommodate within the company’s production schedule.
LA DAMNATION DE FAUST:Berlioz
Gardner; Garanca, Hymel, Abdrazakov
Original Air Date: 01/29/2020
SID.20050321
Berlioz’s compelling take on the Faust legend returns for the first time in a decade, with an ideal lineup of stars. High-flying tenors Bryan Hymel and Michael Spyres sing the doomed and besotted Faust, opposite dazzling mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as the forsaken Marguerite and bass Ildar Abdrazakov as the malevolent Méphistophélès. Edward Gardner conducts. Please note that these are concert presentations on the Met stage. The decision to present La Damnation de Faust in its more usual concert version is driven by the unanticipated technical demands of reviving the Met’s staged production, which proved to be impossible to accommodate within the company’s production schedule.
PORGY AND BESS:Gershwins
David Robertson: Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Latonia Moore, Frederick Ballentine, Alfred Walker, Golda Schultz
Original Air Date: 02/01/2020
Live in HD
SID.20050640
One of America’s favorite operas returns to the Met for the first time in nearly 30 years. James Robinson’s stylish production transports audiences to Catfish Row on the Charleston waterfront, vibrant with the music, dancing, emotion, and heartbreak of its inhabitants. “If you’re going to stage Gershwin’s opera, this is how,” raved the Guardian when the new production premiered in London in 2018. David Robertson conducts a dynamic cast, featuring the sympathetic duo of Eric Owens and Angel Blue in the title roles The worldwide copyrights in the works of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for this presentation are licensed by the Gershwin family. GERSHWIN is a registered trademark of Gershwin Enterprises. Porgy and Bess is a registered trademark of Porgy and Bess Enterprises. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; and English National Opera Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund and Douglas Dockery Thomas
PORGY AND BESS:Gershwins
David Robertson: Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Latonia Moore, Frederick Ballentine, Alfred Walker, Golda Schultz
Original Air Date: 02/01/2020
Live in HD
SID.20050640
One of America’s favorite operas returns to the Met for the first time in nearly 30 years. James Robinson’s stylish production transports audiences to Catfish Row on the Charleston waterfront, vibrant with the music, dancing, emotion, and heartbreak of its inhabitants. “If you’re going to stage Gershwin’s opera, this is how,” raved the Guardian when the new production premiered in London in 2018. David Robertson conducts a dynamic cast, featuring the sympathetic duo of Eric Owens and Angel Blue in the title roles The worldwide copyrights in the works of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for this presentation are licensed by the Gershwin family. GERSHWIN is a registered trademark of Gershwin Enterprises. Porgy and Bess is a registered trademark of Porgy and Bess Enterprises. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; and English National Opera Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund and Douglas Dockery Thomas
PORGY AND BESS:Gershwins
David Robertson: Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Latonia Moore, Frederick Ballentine, Alfred Walker, Golda Schultz
Original Air Date: 02/01/2020
Live in HD
SID.20050640
One of America’s favorite operas returns to the Met for the first time in nearly 30 years. James Robinson’s stylish production transports audiences to Catfish Row on the Charleston waterfront, vibrant with the music, dancing, emotion, and heartbreak of its inhabitants. “If you’re going to stage Gershwin’s opera, this is how,” raved the Guardian when the new production premiered in London in 2018. David Robertson conducts a dynamic cast, featuring the sympathetic duo of Eric Owens and Angel Blue in the title roles The worldwide copyrights in the works of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for this presentation are licensed by the Gershwin family. GERSHWIN is a registered trademark of Gershwin Enterprises. Porgy and Bess is a registered trademark of Porgy and Bess Enterprises. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; and English National Opera Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund and Douglas Dockery Thomas
PORGY AND BESS: Gershwins
Original Air Date: 02/01/2020
David Robertson: Eric Owens, Angel Blue, Denyce Graves, Latonia Moore, Frederick Ballentine, Alfred Walker, Golda Schultz
Live in HD SID.20050600
Single Intermission
Backstage Pass – HD Host Audra McDonald interviews Angel Blue and
Eric Owens
Mary Jo Hearth interviews Joyce DiDonato about Agrippina
Mary Jo Hearth interviews Anita Hartig about Le Nozze di Figaro
Backstage Pass – HD Host Audra McDonald interviews Latonia Moore,
Golda Schultz, and Denyce Graves
Backstage Pass – HD Host Audra McDonald interviews
Frederick Ballentine and Alfred Walker
AGRIPPINA:Handel
Bicket; Rae, DiDonato, Lindsey, Davies, Rock, Rose
Original Air Date: 02/06/2020
SID.20060000
Handel’s tale of intrigue and impropriety in ancient Rome receives its first Met performances, with star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as the controlling, power-hungry Agrippina and Harry Bicket conducting. Sir David McVicar’s production ingeniously reframes the action of this black comedy about the abuse of power to “the present,” where it should loudly resonate. The all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey as Agrippina’s son and future emperor Nerone, soprano Brenda Rae as the seductive Poppea, countertenor Iestyn Davies as the ambitious officer Ottone, and bass Matthew Rose as the weary emperor Claudius. This production was originally created by the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie / De Munt Brussels and adapted by the Metropolitan Opera
Mozart
Original Air Date: 02/18/2020
Bicket; Car, Malfi, Stober, Bliss, Pisaroni, Finley
SID.20080000
Coney Island once again comes to the stage of the Met with the first revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular staging inspired by the side shows of the boardwalk. The pairs of young lovers are a casting dream: soprano Nicole Car, mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, with the glorious bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the cynical Don Alfonso and the charming soprano Heidi Stober as the mischievous maid Despina. Harry Bicket conducts.
Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera In collaboration with Improbable
Production a gift of William R. Miller, and John Sucich / Trust of Joseph Padula Additional funding from The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Endowment Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Bicket; Car, Malfi, Stober, Bliss, Pisaroni, Finley
Original Air Date: 02/18/2020
SID.20080000
Coney Island once again comes to the stage of the Met with the first revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular staging inspired by the side shows of the boardwalk. The pairs of young lovers are a casting dream: soprano Nicole Car, mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, with the glorious bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the cynical Don Alfonso and the charming soprano Heidi Stober as the mischievous maid Despina. Harry Bicket conducts. Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera In collaboration with Improbable
COSÌ FAN TUTTE:Mozart
Bicket; Car, Malfi, Stober, Bliss, Pisaroni, Finley
Original Air Date: 02/18/2020
SID.20080214
Coney Island once again comes to the stage of the Met with the first revival of Phelim McDermott’s popular staging inspired by the side shows of the boardwalk. The pairs of young lovers are a casting dream: soprano Nicole Car, mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi, tenor Ben Bliss, and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, with the glorious bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the cynical Don Alfonso and the charming soprano Heidi Stober as the mischievous maid Despina. Harry Bicket conducts. Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera In collaboration with Improbable
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Benini; Mattei, DiDonato, Flórez, Del Carlo, Relyea
Original Air Date: 03/24/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20080317
This is a simulcast of the first season Live in HD videocast. It’s the only matinee broadcast appearance of Mattei, DiDonato and Florez together, and they are a splendid trio.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Benini; Mattei, DiDonato, Flórez, Del Carlo, Relyea
Original Air Date: 03/24/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20080533
This is a simulcast of the first season Live in HD videocast. It’s the only matinee broadcast appearance of Mattei, DiDonato and Florez together, and they are a splendid trio.
IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA:Rossini
Benini; Mattei, DiDonato, Flórez, Del Carlo, Relyea
Original Air Date: 03/24/2007
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20090101
This is a simulcast of the first season Live in HD videocast. It’s the only matinee broadcast appearance of Mattei, DiDonato and Florez together, and they are a splendid trio.
AGRIPPINA:Handel
Harry Bicket: Joyce DiDonato, Brenda Rae, Kate Lindsey, Iestyn Davies, Matthew Rose
Original Air Date: 02/29/2020
Live in HD
SID.20090640
Handel’s tale of intrigue and impropriety in ancient Rome receives its first Met performances, with star mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as the controlling, power-hungry Agrippina and Harry Bicket conducting. Sir David McVicar’s production ingeniously reframes the action of this black comedy about the abuse of power to “the present,” where it should loudly resonate. The all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey as Agrippina’s son and future emperor Nerone, soprano Brenda Rae as the seductive Poppea, countertenor Iestyn Davies as the ambitious officer Ottone, and bass Matthew Rose as the weary emperor Claudius. This production was originally created by the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie / De Munt Brussels and adapted by the Metropolitan Opera
Intermission
Backstage Pass 1 – HD Host Deborah Voigt interviews Joyce DiDonato
Backstage Pass 2 – HD Host Deborah Voigt interviews Brenda Rae and Iestyn Davies
Mary Jo Hearth interviews Evgeny Nikitin about Der Fliegende Hollände
Backstage Pass 3 – HD Host Deborah Voigt interviews Kate Lindsey and Matthew Rose
DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER:Wagner
Gergiev; Kampe, Fujimura, Skorokhodov, Portillo, Nikitin, Selig
Original Air Date: 03/02/2020
SID.20100107
François Girard, whose revelatory 2013 take on Parsifal set the recent Met standard for Wagner stagings, now unveils a spellbinding new vision of the composer’s tale of a cursed sea captain doomed to sail the open ocean for eternity. With sweeping sets by John Macfarlane, Girard’s new production turns the Met stage into a rich, layered tableau reminiscent of a vast oil painting. Valery Gergiev conducts a brilliant cast led by bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin as the Dutchman, with German soprano Anja Kampe making her anticipated Met debut as the devoted Senta, whose selfless love is what the Dutchman seeks. Bass Franz-Josef Selig is her father, Daland, and tenor Sergey Skorokhodov is her deserted former lover, Erik. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam; The Abu Dhabi Festival; and Opéra de Québec
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RUSALKA:Dvorak
Nézet-Séguin; Fleming, Beczala, Magee, Zajick, Relyea
Original Air Date: 02/08/2014
Live in HD
SID.20120102
Read RWW’s Review of the Live in HD broadcast of this cast.
CARMEN:Bizet
Nezet-Seguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Tahu Rhodes
Original Air Date: 01/16/2010
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20120100
Go to metopera.org: click on link there or download app to your mobile device or add to your ROKU or Apple TV or Smart TV
Overall, the afternoon gets an A; not that there werent things to NOT like, but the balance of elements was extremely satisfying, and you understand why Carmen can survive anything from Spike Jones (set in a bubble gum factory decades before regie theatre was thought of) to Carmen Jones to whatever some crazy director somewhere in the EU is cooking up. What a score, even if you’re listening mostly to Choudens and Guiraud recitatives. The melodies, the characters, the everything. Elina Garanca voice’s is both fruity and clear. Her middle and upper voice are technically very satisfying and if there is a little weakness at the bottom in a theare the size of the Met, she has baby blue eyes and a command of the role that clearly put her as a favorite Carmen (Stevens, but Resnik (Dallas, 1963), Bumbry, Verrett, Borodina, De Los Angeles (Newark), Crespin, Horne, Baltsa are the ones most worthy of mention. Alagna is such a theatre performer that you go with him even when everything is not perfect. He is a very fine Jose, had to make the high climax of the Flower song pure falsetto to avoid a crack, but overall one of my favorite Joses. That he is arguably the best with the text of any doesn’t hurt, and visually he’s quite a specimen at 47. Carmen has to give him up because he’s immature not because he isn’t the hottest guy in Seville. Frittoli has many roles her Fiordiligi in the house, many Desdemonas, and her wrenching Suor Angelica. Her vibrato is always 10% too “loose” to be ideal, but when she needs to get out a big climax, she’s right there. only Freni and Lidia Marimpietri (Dallas, 1963) have made a greater impact. Teddy Tahu Rhodes was a late (10 am this morning) replacement for Kwiecien who was ill. Though he is often portrayed as a bari hunk, he looked skinny in the costume, and I wasn’t much impressed. The vocal if not stylistic standard is Merrill. Better Escamillos – Jose van Dam, Sam Ramey, Rene Pape, Norman Treigle (also in that first Carmen). Conducting. Yannick Nezet-Seguin. The musical preparation was outstanding. He started the first act prelude like a house of fire, but as he was accompanying the singers, came into more traditional tempi; he got a nice Gallic tang out of the orchestra. Where the preparation showed was in the many numbers that mix in the quintet of smugglers with chorus and 1 or more of the principals. Elizabeth Caballero as Frasquita sounded VERY good; we should hear more of her, but the ensemble was really terrific today. Except for the final tableau , the production is very satisfactory, and a good visual Carmen.
Massenet
Original Air Date: 03/16/2020
Nézet-Séguin; Fang, DiDonato, Beczala, Dupuis, Opie
SID.20120000
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Massenet’s tragedy, a perfect vehicle for outstanding tenors, starring Piotr Beczała, who certainly fits the bill. The magnificent mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is Charlotte, the object of Werther’s misguided affections, alongside sopranos Erin Morley and Ying Fang as Sophie and baritone Etienne Dupuis as Albert, in Sir Richard Eyre’s arresting production.
LA BOHEME :Puccini
Luisotti; Gheorghiu, Arteta, Vargas, Tezier
Original Air Date: 04/05/2008
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20120200
RUSALKA:Dvorak
Nézet-Séguin; Fleming, Beczala, Magee, Zajick, Relyea
Original Air Date: 02/08/2014
Live in HD
SID.20120318
Read RWW’s Review of the Live in HD broadcast of this cast.
IL TROVATORE:Verdi
Armiliato, Netrebko, Zajick, Hvorostovsky, Lee
Original Air Date: 10/03/2015
Live in HD
SID.20120300
?pubId=610394115001&videoId=5980651036001
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Nézet-Séguin; Damrau, Flórez, Kelsey
Original Air Date: 12/15/2018
Live in HD
SID.20120400
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s richly textured new production, featuring a dazzling 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.
REVIEW: The Met Turns the Tragedy of ‘Traviata’ Into Dull Disney Schmaltz By James Jorden • 12/05/18 – Well, you have to give the Met credit for accomplishing a feat no other opera company in the world could—or should. At Tuesday’s gala new production of La Traviata, the company managed to downgrade Verdi’s masterpiece of musical drama to a kitschy Disney musical. The prime culprit in this act of artistic vandalism is director Michael Mayer, who seems to have no handle at all on this classic tale of a courtesan inspired by true love to make the most profound sacrifice. In the great duet in the second act, for example, when the penitent Violetta confronts Germont, the morally outraged father of her lover, the singers circled listlessly around a bed that hogged center stage through all three acts.
Review: ‘La Traviata’ Opens a New Era at the Met Opera By Anthony Tommasini Dec. 5, 2018 ….””To begin his tenure as the company’s music director, Mr. Nézet-Séguin led an uncommonly fine rendition of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” in a new staging by Michael Mayer that stars the soprano Diana Damrau and the tenor Juan Diego Flórez. And in a rare gesture of respect and good will, the Met’s musicians joined Mr. Nézet-Séguin on stage for a bow after the show.
LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT :Donizetti
Armiliato; Dessay, Palmer, Florez, Corbelli
Original Air Date: 04/26/2008
Live in HDMOD Video
SID.20120500
RUSALKA:Dvorak
Nézet-Séguin; Fleming, Beczala, Magee, Zajick, Relyea
Original Air Date: 02/08/2014
Live in HD
SID.20120636
Read RWW’s Review of the Live in HD broadcast of this cast.
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR:Donizetti
Armiliato; Netrebko, Beczała, Kwiecień
Original Air Date: 02/07/2009
Live in HD SID.20120699
February 7, 2009 Matinee /HD Transmission/Simulcast
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR {580}
Donizetti–Cammarano
Lucia……………….Anna Netrebko
Edgardo……………..Piotr Beczala
Enrico………………Mariusz Kwiecien
Raimondo…………….Ildar Abdrazakov
Normanno…………….Michael Myers
Alisa……………….Michaela Martens
Arturo………………Colin Lee
Flute Solo: Stefán Ragnar Höskuldsson
Harp Solo: Mariko Anraku
Armonica Solo: Cecilia Brauer
Conductor……………Marco Armiliato
Production…………..Mary Zimmerman
Set designer…………Daniel Ostling
Costume designer……..Mara Blumenfeld
Lighting designer…….T. J. Gerckens
Choreography…………Daniel Pelzig
TV Director…………Gary Halvorson
READ Robert W White’s Review