In the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Metropolitan Opera announced it will stream encore performances of some of its most famed shows to the public starting on Monday, March 16 — and it will all be completely free.
Here’s what you need to know:
- The HD performance streams are 100% free
- They will go live at 6:30 pm CT each night at Metopera.org
- Each performance will remain on the site for viewing for 20 hours
The streams will continue every night until all of this passes and the Met is able to reopen its doors, which will likely be several weeks.
“We’d like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times,” Met General Manager Peter Gelb shared in the statement. “Every night, we’ll be offering a different complete operatic gem from our collection of HD presentations from the past 14 years.”
Check out the entire schedule of encore performances, along with listing information provided by the Met, below.
Monday, March 16: Bizet’s “Carmen”
Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna. Transmitted live on Jan. 16, 2010.
Tuesday, March 17: Puccini’s “La Bohème”
Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas. Transmitted live on April 5, 2008.
Wednesday, March 18: Verdi’s “Il Trovatore”
Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Transmitted live on Oct. 3, 2015.
Thursday, March 19: Verdi’s “La Traviata”
Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez, and Quinn Kelsey. Transmitted live on Dec. 15, 2018.
Friday, March 20: Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment”
Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez. Transmitted live on April 26, 2008.
Saturday, March 21: Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor”
Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Mariusz Kwiecien. Transmitted live on Feb. 7, 2009.
Sunday, March 22: Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”
Conducted by Valery Gergiev, starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Transmitted live on Feb. 24, 2007.
So, if you want a break from all the coronavirus news for a few hours, head to MetOpera.org or download the Met’s app and enjoy some great performances every night.
