Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Metropolitan Opera

Handel’s Agrippina at the Met Free Streaming

If you’re a Baroque opera nut – or even if you’re not – do not miss this David McVicar staging of Handel’s “Agrippina,” from the Metropolitan Opera. I don’t always enjoy updated productions, but this one is a hoot. Joyce DiDonato may be the star – and she’s magnificent in the title role, as the conniving wife of the Roman emperor Claudius – but it is Kate Lindsey who steals the show as a young punk Nero, who, during one breathless number, cuts cocaine with a credit card, and literally winds up giving everyone the finger as he struts to the throne. It may not sound like your kind of thing, but believe me, it is! DO NOT MISS IT. Free streaming begins tonight at 6:00 EDT and continues for 24 hours at metopera.org.

Just a 60-second sample of Kate Lindsey as Nero (but for the full effect, you really need to see her shake out the big bag of coke!):

August 8, 2020
Javier Camarena’s High C Encore at The Met

Last year, as tenor Javier Camarena was completing his run of performances in Donizetti’s “The Daughter of the Regiment,” he encored his sequence of high C’s in “Ah! mes amis” – bringing them to a total of 18 (!) and whipping the audience at New York’s Metropolitan Opera into an ecstatic frenzy. Camarena is one of only three tenors since 1942 to have broken the Met’s no-encore policy. (The others were Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Diego Flórez.) This guy just loves to sing.

Catch Camarena in action on tonight’s Met HD Encore stream (which will be available until 6 p.m. tomorrow EDT). Also in the cast: Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, and actress Kathleen Turner.

Each opera streams for 24 hours at metopera.org. Here’s a link to this week’s schedule, with teasers and bonus materials:

https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/week-16/

Monday, June 29
Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment
Starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Javier Camarena, Maurizio Muraro, and Kathleen Turner, conducted by Enrique Mazzola. From March 2, 2019.

Tuesday, June 30
Wagner’s Die Walküre
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, and Kurt Moll, conducted by James Levine. From April 8, 1989.

Wednesday, July 1
Shostakovich’s The Nose
Starring Andrey Popov, Alexander Lewis, and Paulo Szot, conducted by Pavel Smelkov. From October 26, 2013.

Thursday, July 2
Bizet’s Carmen
Starring Anita Hartig, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ildar Abdrazakov, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. From November 1, 2014.

Friday, July 3
Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Starring Marina Rebeka, Barbara Frittoli, Mojca Erdmann, Ramón Vargas, Mariusz Kwiecien, Luca Pisaroni, and Štefan Kocán, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From October 29, 2011.

Saturday, July 4
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale
Starring Beverly Sills, Alfredo Kraus, Håkan Hagegård, and Gabriel Bacquier, conducted by Nicola Rescigno. From January 11, 1979.

Sunday, July 5
Rossini’s La Donna del Lago
Starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn, and Oren Gradus, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From March 14, 2015.

June 29, 2020
Free Opera Week at the Met: Glass, Verdi & More

Good Lord! Two Philip Glass operas in one week! I offer this mild oath in tribute to the monotheistic pharaoh at the center of Glass’ “Akhnaten.”

Even if you think Minimalism drives you up a wall, try to catch the Metropolitan Opera production, which features an uncanny performance by Princeton University alumnus Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role, impressive sets, evocative costumes, and plenty of jugglers (!).

The Met will also offer two – count ‘em – two Rossini operas, “Armida” and “Semiramide.” The Met’s Rossini has been among the more gratifying revelations for me since the COVID-era streaming began. It sounds a little silly to state the obvious, but he’s a very theatrical composer!

Oh yeah, and there will be two by Verdi, as well, including “La Forza” with Leontyne Price.

The Met continues to make good on its pledge to stream free opera for the duration of the house’s shutdown. Each opera is accessible for approximately 23 hours, starting every day around 7 p.m. EDT. Handel’s “Rodelinda” streams through 6 p.m. today, at metopera.org.

Here’s a complete schedule of this week’s offerings. You’ll find teasers and bonus materials when following the link:

https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/week-14/

Monday, June 15
Rossini’s Armida
Starring Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, John Osborn, Barry Banks, and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. From May 1, 2010.

Tuesday, June 16
Rossini’s Semiramide
Starring Angela Meade, Elizabeth DeShong, Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From March 10, 2018.

Wednesday, June 17
Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride
Starring Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo, and Paul Groves, conducted by Patrick Summers. From February 26, 2011.

Thursday, June 18, and Friday, June 19
Verdi’s La Forza del Destino
Starring Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. From March 24, 1984.

Saturday, June 20
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. From November 23, 2019.

Sunday, June 21
Philip Glass’s Satyagraha
Starring Rachelle Durkin, Richard Croft, Kim Josephson, and Alfred Walker, conducted by Dante Anzolini. From November 19, 2011.

June 15, 2020
Met Opera Free Streams This Week

This week’s selection of Metropolitan Opera “Live in HD” encores runs the gamut from Handel’s “Rodelinda” to John Corigliano’s “The Ghosts of Versailles.”

Of particular interest is a double-bill of Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” and Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle.” The staging of “Bluebeard,” allegedly inspired by noir films of the 1940s, is a knock-out! A powerful introduction, for anyone who has had difficulty getting his or her head around this darkly beautiful work on recordings.

In addition, the Met will re-stream its at-home gala, which made a very favorable impression the first time around. This virtual event features dozens of opera singers performing out of their homes, with some very unlikely accompanists. At least one of the singers, taken off-guard, is caught drinking a beer on camera. The gala will run continuously, on both Friday and Saturday. It’s four-hours long, but compelling throughout.

The Met continues to make good on its pledge to stream free opera for the duration of the house’s shutdown. Each opera is accessible for approximately 23 hours, starting every day around 7 p.m. EDT. Massenet’s “Thais” streams through 6 p.m. today, at metopera.org.

Here’s a complete schedule of this week’s offerings. You’ll find teasers and bonus materials when following the link:

https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/week-13/

Monday, June 8
Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito
Starring Lucy Crowe, Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Kate Lindsey, and Giuseppe Filianoti, conducted by Harry Bicket. From December 1, 2012.

Tuesday, June 9
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. From February 14, 2015.

Wednesday, June 10
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008.

Thursday, June 11
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. From January 10, 1992.

Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13
At-Home Gala (Encore Screening)
In a re-broadcast of our recent At-Home Gala, more than 40 leading artists and members of the Met Orchestra and Chorus perform virtually from their homes around the world, with General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin as hosts. From April 25, 2020.

Sunday, June 14
Handel’s Rodelinda
Starring Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, and Shenyang, conducted by Harry Bicket. From December 3, 2011.

June 8, 2020
Met Opera Free Streams This Week

Among this week’s Metropolitan Opera “Live in HD” encores is a real Lulu. No, I mean it. Alban Berg’s “Lulu” will be available, starting on Tuesday night.

The Met continues to make good on its pledge to stream free opera for the duration of the shutdown. Each opera is accessible for approximately 23 hours, starting every day around 7:30 p.m. EDT. Stream now at metopera.org.

Here’s a complete schedule of this week’s offerings. You’ll find teasers and bonus materials when following the link:

https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/week-12/

Monday, June 1
Bellini’s I Puritani
Starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo, and John Relyea, conducted by Patrick Summers. From January 6, 2007.

Tuesday, June 2
Berg’s Lulu
Starring Marlis Petersen, Susan Graham, Daniel Brenna, Paul Groves, Johan Reuter, and Franz Grundheber, conducted by Lothar Koenigs. From November 21, 2015.

Wednesday, June 3
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice
Starring Danielle de Niese, Heidi Grant Murphy, and Stephanie Blythe, conducted by James Levine. From January 24, 2009.

Thursday, June 4
Puccini’s Tosca
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.

Friday, June 5
Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel
Starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo, David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn, and John Tomlinson, conducted by Thomas Adès. From November 18, 2017.

Saturday, June 6
Verdi’s Otello
Starring Sonya Yoncheva, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Željko Lučić, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From October 17, 2015.

Sunday, June 7
Massenet’s Thaïs
Starring Renée Fleming, Michael Schade, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Jesús López-Cobos. From December 20, 2008.

June 2, 2020

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