2019 Summer HD Festival

In this 11th year, over ten nights performances from the Met’s Live in HD series will be shown starting with a screening of FUNNY FACE in a special co-presentation with Film at Lincoln Center.   Screenings run from August 23 through September 2.  There will be 3000 seats in the Plaza in front of the Opera House with an additional standing room area. Cancellations due to thunder/lighting or high wind will not be rescheduled. 

Aug
24
Sat
2019
LULU
Aug 24 @ 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM


LULU:Berg
Original Air Date: 04/13/1985
Levine; Migenes, Mazura, Lear, Lewis, Foldi
SID.19340640
This performance was also issued in Sony’s Historical series on CD, but strikingly not in the Met Opera on Demand (MOoD) which features a performance from the season before with the same conductor, Figaro, Count, and Cherubino. Della Casa is swapped with Amara and Soderstrom (as Susanna) is swapped with Peters. Siepi is the chief attraction here. His Figaro is represented by 3 other Nozze performances, but strangely his Mephisto only has one streaming representation, but neither Bjorling (1950, 1959) nor a strong cast for his last turn at the microhones in 1969.

Sep
16
Mon
2019
ARABELLA
Sep 16 @ 6:00 AM – 9:00 AM


ARABELLA:Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/17/1984
Janowski; Andrade, Nentwig, Battle, Rendall, Dunn, Mazura
SID.19380102
I like Janowski very much as a conductor, but the substitution of Andrade for Te Kanawa who did the rest of the run lowers the voltage considerably, and Nentwig is not a high profile Mandryka for my taste; here was a role George London was absolutely perfect for, and it’s a shame the translation challenges of Sirius seem to keep the Kempe led Met premiere season off the air with Steber and London truly inspired. The problems with translations fall on deaf ears here since the translation was by John Gutman, longtime Met asst. Manager. For real value rebroadcast this less often and get London and Steber on the air– it’s the Met at its best.

Sep
18
Wed
2019
ARABELLA
Sep 18 @ 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM


ARABELLA:Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/17/1984
Janowski; Andrade, Nentwig, Battle, Rendall, Dunn, Mazura
SID.19380318
I like Janowski very much as a conductor, but the substitution of Andrade for Te Kanawa who did the rest of the run lowers the voltage considerably, and Nentwig is not a high profile Mandryka for my taste; here was a role George London was absolutely perfect for, and it’s a shame the translation challenges of Sirius seem to keep the Kempe led Met premiere season off the air with Steber and London truly inspired. The problems with translations fall on deaf ears here since the translation was by John Gutman, longtime Met asst. Manager. For real value rebroadcast this less often and get London and Steber on the air– it’s the Met at its best.

Sep
21
Sat
2019
ARABELLA
Sep 21 @ 12:00 AM – 3:00 AM


ARABELLA:Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/17/1984
Janowski; Andrade, Nentwig, Battle, Rendall, Dunn, Mazura
SID.19380535
I like Janowski very much as a conductor, but the substitution of Andrade for Te Kanawa who did the rest of the run lowers the voltage considerably, and Nentwig is not a high profile Mandryka for my taste; here was a role George London was absolutely perfect for, and it’s a shame the translation challenges of Sirius seem to keep the Kempe led Met premiere season off the air with Steber and London truly inspired. The problems with translations fall on deaf ears here since the translation was by John Gutman, longtime Met asst. Manager. For real value rebroadcast this less often and get London and Steber on the air– it’s the Met at its best.

Nov
20
Wed
2019
LULU
Nov 20 @ 12:00 AM – 3:00 AM


LULU:Berg
Levine; Stratas, Mazura, Lear, Riegel, Foldi
Original Air Date: 01/03/1981

SID.19470315
This is Stratas’ only Lulu broadcast from the Met, and by everyone’s reckoning it is a strong cast. The telecast was done a few weeks earlier with Julia Migenes in the title role replacing Stratas. That is available on DVD issued by the Met

Nov
22
Fri
2019
LULU
Nov 22 @ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM


LULU:Berg
Levine; Stratas, Mazura, Lear, Riegel, Foldi
Original Air Date: 01/03/1981

SID.19470534
This is Stratas’ only Lulu broadcast from the Met, and by everyone’s reckoning it is a strong cast. The telecast was done a few weeks earlier with Julia Migenes in the title role replacing Stratas. That is available on DVD issued by the Met

Nov
24
Sun
2019
LULU
Nov 24 @ 6:00 AM – 9:00 AM


LULU:Berg
Levine; Stratas, Mazura, Lear, Riegel, Foldi
Original Air Date: 01/03/1981

SID.19470744
This is Stratas’ only Lulu broadcast from the Met, and by everyone’s reckoning it is a strong cast. The telecast was done a few weeks earlier with Julia Migenes in the title role replacing Stratas. That is available on DVD issued by the Met

Nov
27
Wed
2019
LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS / LE ROSSIGNOL / OEDIPUS REX
Nov 27 @ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Stravinsky
Levine; Bradley, Creech, Catania / Lewis, Troyanos, Mazura
Original Air Date: 01/02/1982

SID.19480320
This is the first year of the Stravinsky/Hockney/Dexter/Levine trilogy with Troyanos the featured Jocasta. Jessye Norman did 5 performances the second year, but the broadcast was with Quivar as Jocasta. Blythe appears in 2004 under Gergiev. I prefer these works to Rake’s Progress (heresy), but the Hockney/Dexter visuals were not as appealing as their Parade French trilogy which preceded it.

Nov
29
Fri
2019
LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS / LE ROSSIGNOL / OEDIPUS REX
Nov 29 @ 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Stravinsky
Levine; Bradley, Creech, Catania / Lewis, Troyanos, Mazura
Original Air Date: 01/02/1982

SID.19480532
This is the first year of the Stravinsky/Hockney/Dexter/Levine trilogy with Troyanos the featured Jocasta. Jessye Norman did 5 performances the second year, but the broadcast was with Quivar as Jocasta. Blythe appears in 2004 under Gergiev. I prefer these works to Rake’s Progress (heresy), but the Hockney/Dexter visuals were not as appealing as their Parade French trilogy which preceded it.

Dec
1
Sun
2019
LE SACRE DU PRINTEMPS / LE ROSSIGNOL / OEDIPUS REX
Dec 1 @ 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Stravinsky
Levine; Bradley, Creech, Catania / Lewis, Troyanos, Mazura
Original Air Date: 01/02/1982

SID.19480745
This is the first year of the Stravinsky/Hockney/Dexter/Levine trilogy with Troyanos the featured Jocasta. Jessye Norman did 5 performances the second year, but the broadcast was with Quivar as Jocasta. Blythe appears in 2004 under Gergiev. I prefer these works to Rake’s Progress (heresy), but the Hockney/Dexter visuals were not as appealing as their Parade French trilogy which preceded it.

Feb
24
Mon
2020
LULU
Feb 24 @ 9:00 PM – 11:55 PM

LULU:Berg
Levine; Malfitano, Mazura, Troyanos, Hamilton, Foldi
Original Air Date: 04/02/1988

SID.20090107
Lulu is not a regular item for many, but Mazura and Troyanos were specialists, and Leighton Kerner, the late Village Voice critic found her the most satisfying of 11 Lulus he had encountered. It’s sad that the Dexter production which was telecast with Migenes (replacing Stratas) has not made its way to Met OperaonDemand, but is on a Met issued DVD in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box.

Feb
26
Wed
2020
LULU
Feb 26 @ 6:00 AM – 9:00 AM

LULU:Berg
Levine; Malfitano, Mazura, Troyanos, Hamilton, Foldi
Original Air Date: 04/02/1988

SID.20090316
Lulu is not a regular item for many, but Mazura and Troyanos were specialists, and Leighton Kerner, the late Village Voice critic found her the most satisfying of 11 Lulus he had encountered. It’s sad that the Dexter production which was telecast with Migenes (replacing Stratas) has not made its way to Met OperaonDemand, but is on a Met issued DVD in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box.

Mar
1
Sun
2020
LULU
Mar 1 @ 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

LULU:Berg
Levine; Malfitano, Mazura, Troyanos, Hamilton, Foldi
Original Air Date: 04/02/1988

SID.20090748
Lulu is not a regular item for many, but Mazura and Troyanos were specialists, and Leighton Kerner, the late Village Voice critic found her the most satisfying of 11 Lulus he had encountered. It’s sad that the Dexter production which was telecast with Migenes (replacing Stratas) has not made its way to Met OperaonDemand, but is on a Met issued DVD in the Levine 40th anniversary DVD box.