Let's Meet At The Met!
The Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1883 in New York. When its first home on Broadway and 39th Street became too small to accommodate its grand productions, the Met relocated to the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Since 1966, this has been the opera's home in New York, equipped with the finest technical facilities. It is these facilities combined with the Met's ever enduring spirit which has allowed it to continue to thrive even as the popularity of opera has seen rapid decline. The Met stages over 200 productions per year, welcoming over 800 000 visitors each season.
In 2006, the Metropolitan Opera introduced their Live in HD series to audiences around the world - a series of performance transmissions shown live in high definition in movie theaters around the globe. Today, this series reaches more than 2000 venues in 73 countries across six continents. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide movie theatre closures, the Met's live shows and transmission broadcasts look likely to be halted until December 2020.
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Live In HD: Lockdown Series
In response to the global pandemic crisis, the Metropolitan Opera has yet again turned to technological advances to bring their shows to the world. Since late March, they have been offering free nightly live streams of their most popular productions via their website. The streams are also available through the Met Opera on Demand apps for Apple, Amazon and Roku devices and Samsung Smart TV.
The nightly Met Opera streams kick off at 19:30 EDT, until 18:30 the following day. Seeing that Johannesburg is six hours ahead of New York, this translates to 01:30 in the morning for us! Of course, if you are still awake at that time, go right ahead. But, for those of us working from home or with young children, it may be best to get your fill of world-class opera later on in the day. Click here to watch last night's stream before it ends!
June Lineup
The Met enters it's thirteenth week of live online streaming from Monday, 08 June 2020. With its physical theatre facing closure for another few months, they will be continuing with the Live in HD series throughout June 2020. Here's what's on the Met: Live in HD programme for the next few weeks:
Week 13
- Monday, 8 June 2020
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito
Starring Lucy Crowe, Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Kate Lindsey, and Giuseppe Filianoti, conducted by Harry Bicket. Performed on 1 December 2012. - Tuesday, 9 June 2020
Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and Bartók’s Bluebeard's Castle
Starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała in Iolanta, and Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko in Bluebeard's Castle, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Performed on 14 February 2015. - Wednesday, 10 June 2020
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. Performed on 1 January 2008. - Thursday, 11 June 2020
John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles
Starring Teresa Stratas, Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Graham Clark, Gino Quilico, and Håkan Hagegård, conducted by James Levine. Performed on 10 January 1992. - Friday, 12 June 2020 and Saturday, 13 June 2020
At-Home Gala (Encore Screening)
In a re-broadcast of the Met's recent At-Home Gala, more than 40 leading artists and members of the Met Orchestra and Chorus will perform virtually from their homes around the world, with General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin as hosts. Performed on 25 April 2020. - Sunday, 14 June 2020
Handel’s Rodelinda
Starring Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, and Shenyang, conducted by Harry Bicket. Performed on 3 December 2011.
Week 14
- Monday, 15 June 2020
Rossini’s Armida
Starring Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, John Osborn, Barry Banks, and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Performed on 1 May 2010. - Tuesday, 16 June 2020
Rossini’s Semiramide
Starring Angela Meade, Elizabeth DeShong, Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green, conducted by Maurizio Benini. Performed on 10 March 2018. - Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride
Starring Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo, and Paul Groves, conducted by Patrick Summers. Performed on 26 February 2011. - Thursday, 18 June 2020
Verdi’s La Forza del Destino
Starring Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Performed on 24 March 1984. - Friday, 19 June 2020
Philip Glass’s Akhnaten
Starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J'Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein, and Zachary James, conducted by Karen Kamensek. Performed on 23 November 2019. - Saturday, 20 June 2020
Philip Glass’s Satyagraha
Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. Performed on 19 November 2011. - Sunday, 21 June 2020
Verdi’s La Traviata
Starring Sonya Yoncheva, Michael Fabiano, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Nicola Luisotti. Performed on 11 March 2017.
Ghost of Versailles (1992)
For More Information
Visit the Metropolitan Opera website for more information. You can also follow their social media pages to keep up to date with the latest news:
Click here for the Met's weekly guide to their Live in HD shows, complete with original playbills and insightful 'behind-the-curtain' pieces.
Looking for more live streaming events and online arts festivals? Click here!
