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As the Metropolitan Opera prepares to resume live performances in September, the New York institution continues to sustain opera lovers worldwide with free streams of full operas from its archives every night of the week. From July 12 through July 18, the lineup is devoted exclusively to works by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, including La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and Tosca. Most of the operas were recorded in high definition for the Met's popular stage-to-cinema Live in HD series, but the offerings also include three pre-HD classics that feature star tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. (Click here for details about the Met's final week of free opera streams, from July 19 through July 25.)
The streams go live on the Met's website every night at 7:30pm EDT (12:30am BST) and can be viewed until 6:30pm EDT the next day. The operas can also be accessed on various devices via the Met Opera on Demand app. More information and a full schedule for Week 70 of the Met's nightly streaming program are below.
This week's lineup includes a performance on Friday that it has never streamed before: a 1992 telecast of Puccini’s rootin’-tootin’ La Fanciulla del West, starring Barbara Daniels as a Wild West bar owner and Plácido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes, respectively, as the outlaw and lawman who pursue her. Tuesday and Wednesday's streams feature two other vintage favorites with Luciano Pavarotti: his 1977 La Bohème (with Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska and Paul Plishka) and his 1978 Tosca (with Shirley Verrett and Cornell MacNeil). Filling out the week are more recent productions of Manon Lescault, Madama Butterfly, La Rondine and Turandot. To help you choose which operas to see, the Met provides both a useful thumbnail guide to the works and a more extensive compendium of articles and podcasts about them.
This week's Metropolitan Opera nightly streaming schedule:
Monday, July 12: Manon Lescaut
Starring Karita Mattila, Marcello Giordani and Dwayne Croft. Conducted by James Levine. From February 16, 2008.
Tuesday, July 13: La Bohème
Starring Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell and Paul Plishka. Conducted by James Levine. Production by Fabrizio Melano. From March 15, 1977.
Wednesday, July 14: Tosca
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti and Cornell MacNeil. Conducted by James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.
Thursday, July 15: Madama Butterfly
Starring Hui He, Elizabeth DeShong, Bruce Sledge and Paulo Szot. Conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi. Production by Anthony Minghella. From November 9, 2019.
Friday, July 16: La Fanciulla del West
Starring Barbara Daniels, Plácido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes. Conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Production by Giancarlo Del Monaco. From April 8, 1992.
Saturday, July 17: La Rondine
Starring Angela Gheorghiu, Lisette Oropesa, Roberto Alagna, Marius Brenciu and Samuel Ramey. Conducted by Marco Armiliato. Production by Nicolas Joël. From January 10, 2009.
Sunday, July 18: Turandot
Starring Nina Stemme, Anita Hartig, Marco Berti and Alexander Tsymbalyuk. Conducted by Paolo Carignani. Production by Franco Zeffirelli. From January 30, 2016.
