It's hard to imagine confirmed Straussians not wanting this starry Metropolitan Opera performance of Elektra. Strauss and his librettist, Hugo von Hofmannstahl, transformed Sophocles' take on Homer's tale into a harrowing opera noir. Elektra lives for one reason, to kill her mother, Klytämnestra,...
"La Clemenza di Tito" was Mozart's last stage work. It was commissioned for an Imperial coronation ceremony while Mozart was at work on "Die Zauberflöte" and was composed in great haste. Indeed, time was so short that composition of the secco recitatives was assigned to Mozart's pupil Süssmayr....
Giuseppe Verdi's opera of religion, revenge and redemption gets the star treatment in this 1993 Metropolitan Opera production conducted by James Levine and starring Plácido Domingo as the cuckolded man of God at the center of the tale. Sharon Sweet sings the role of Domingo's adulteress wife and...
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...
Verdi's early masterpiece is based on a Victor Hugo play with a complicated plot concerning a young woman and the three men vying for her affections—her elderly uncle, a king destined to become Holy Roman Emperor, and a bandit who is actually an overthrown nobleman. Though there is plenty of...
The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine. Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, the warrior woman determined to rule empires, and Jamie Barton is the heroic Fenena. Dmitri Belosselskiy is the stentorian voice...
Two years prior to the opening scene, the nobleman Florestan has exposed or attempted to expose certain crimes of the nobleman Pizarro. In revenge, Pizarro has secretly imprisoned Florestan in the prison over which Pizarro is governor. The jailer of the prison, Rocco, has a daughter, Marzelline,...
Opera royalty Luciano Pavarotti brings dignity and power to the title role in this 1982 production. During a squall at sea, Idomeneo -- the king of Crete -- swears to Neptune that if the monarch survives, he'll sacrifice the first person he encounters onshore. Tragically, that person ends up being...
Don Carlo (1980) Metropolitan Opera. Verdi / italian. King Philip's court is plagued by rebels, family squabbles and intrigue. The Spanish Inquisition tries to exert its influence. The tension finally ignites at the King's coronation, where heretics are to be burned at the stake
In an Opening Night performance for the history books, the great Plácido Domingo sings the title role of Verdi’s Otello for the first time at the Met. This supremely demanding part was to become his signature role, an accomplishment against which other interpreters are still measured to this...
Met Music Director James Levine leads this Live in HD presentation of Wagner’s early Romantic opera, starring Johan Botha in the title role of the minnesinger torn between earthly passion and true love. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth, whose unswerving devotion redeems Tannhäuser’s soul, and...
John Dexter’s brilliant production, James Levine’s masterful conducting of the eclectic score, and a sensational cast come together to make this Kurt Weill–Bertolt Brecht masterpiece a riveting evening of music theater. At the center of the action is Jimmy Mahoney (Richard Cassilly), a logger...
James Morris leads an all-star cast including Karita Mattila, Ben Heppner, Thomas Allen and René Pape, in this production of Wagner's comic opera, recorded live at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2001. James Levine conducts.
In Concert at the Met (DVD) - Highlights Five of the Met's greatest stars - Price, Horne, Troyanos, Domingo, and Milnes - joined James Levine for a series of irresistible concert programs, originally telecast in the 1980s. Featuring works by composers ranging from Handel to Meyerbeer to Puccini and...
With James Levine at the helm, Verdi’s multi-faceted masterpiece is revealed as a drama of almost Shakespearean proportions. Superstar Plácido Domingo takes on he demanding role of Don Alvaro, the outcast whose noble gesture unwittingly sets the wheels of fate in motion and destroys an entire...
When this sumptuous production by Giancarlo del Monaco opened in 1995, legendary tenor Plácido Domingo gave a riveting performance as the fiery revolutionary Gabriele Adorno, a tenor part. In the 2010 revival, he made history by taking on the baritone title role, one of Verdi’s most fascinating...