The Metropolitan Opera has announced the launch of The Met: Live at Home, a streaming platform that allows audiences to watch the Met's series of live streams from any device in the comfort of their homes. The platform was created for those who do not have access to participating cinemas for the Met's Live in HD transmissions.
Using location services and geo-fencing, the streams will be available to opera lovers in the United States and Canada who do not live near cinemas that carry the Met's transmissions and in countries that do not have participating cinemas. A complete list of participating countries and territories can be found here. Tickets for Live at Home streams will be available for sale starting Monday, October 17.
The initiative expands the reach of the Met's simulcasts to another 171 countries and territories, in addition to the more than 50 countries with some 2,000 cinemas that currently receive the Live in HD transmissions. The price of the Live at Home transmissions – which include unlimited free viewings during a seven-day window – will be either $10 or $20, depending on the country.
The Met's general manager, Peter Gelb, said:
We wanted to make our live performances available to people who don't have ready access to the movie theaters that carry the Met, whether you reside in the mountains of Montana or on assignment in Antarctica.
The Met: Live at Home lineup includes all ten productions in the cinema series with company premieres, new productions, and repertoire favourites. The first live transmission takes place on 22 October with a performance of the Met's new production of Cherubini's Medea, starring soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.
In addition to English, French, and Spanish subtitles, at-home purchasers will be able to select Italian and Portuguese subtitles beginning with La Traviata on 5 November and all subsequent Live at Home simulcasts.
In the United States and Canada, eligible at-home viewers must live more than 15–50 miles away from a movie house offering Met shows, depending on the region.
The Met began transmitting selected Saturday matinee performances to cinemas during Gelb's first season as general manager in 2006. Since then, nearly 30 million people have purchased tickets to see the Met in cinemas in the US and abroad.
2022–23 Season
The Live at Home season will begin on 22 October with Medea and continues with La Traviata (5 November), The Hours (10 December), Fedora (14 January), Lohengrin (18 March ), Falstaff (1 April), Der Rosenkavalier (15 April), Champion (29 April), Don Giovanni (20 May), and Die Zauberflöte (3 June). All performances will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage.
Cherubini's Medea—MET PREMIERE
Live in HD date: October 22, 2022
Production: David McVicar
Set Designer: David McVicar
Costume Designer: Doey Lüthi
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Projection Designer: S. Katy Tucker
Movement Director: Jo Meredith
Carlo Rizzi (Conductor); Sondra Radvanovsky (Medea), Janai Brugger (Glauce), Ekaterina Gubanova (Neris), Matthew Polenzani (Giasone), Michele Pertusi (Creonte)
Having triumphed at the Met in some of the repertory's fiercest soprano roles, Sondra Radvanovsky stars as the mythic sorceress who will stop at nothing in her quest for vengeance. Joining Radvanovsky in the Met-premiere production of Cherubini's rarely performed masterpiece is tenor Matthew Polenzani as Medea's Argonaut husband, Giasone; soprano Janai Brugger as her rival for his love, Glauce; bass Michele Pertusi as her father, Creonte, the King of Corinth; and mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Medea's confidante, Neris.
Verdi's La Traviata—REVIVAL
Live in HD date: November 5, 2022
Production: Michael Mayer
Set Designer: Christine Jones
Costume Designer: Susan Hilferty
Lighting Designer: Kevin Adams
Choreographer: Lorin Latarro
Daniele Callegari (Conductor); Nadine Sierra (Violetta Valéry), Stephen Costello (Alfredo Germont), Luca Salsi (Giorgio Germont)
Soprano Nadine Sierra stars as the self-sacrificing courtesan Violetta—one of opera's ultimate heroines—in Michael Mayer's vibrant production of Verdi's beloved tragedy. Tenor Stephen Costello is her self-centred lover Alfredo, alongside baritone Luca Salsi as his disapproving father and Maestro Daniele Callegari on the podium.
Kevin Puts's The Hours—WORLD-PREMIERE PRODUCTION
Live in HD date: December 10, 2022
Librettist: Greg Pierce
Production: Phelim McDermott
Set and Costume Designer: Tom Pye
Lighting Designer: Bruno Poet
Projection Designer: Finn Ross
Choreographer: Annie-B Parson
Dramaturg: Paul Cremo
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor); Renée Fleming (Clarissa Vaughan), Kelli O'Hara (Laura Brown), Joyce DiDonato (Virginia Woolf), Sean Panikkar (Leonard Woolf), William Burden (Louis), Kyle Ketelsen (Richard), Brandon Cedel (Dan Brown)
The world-premiere staging of Kevin Puts's The Hours, adapted from Michael Cunningham's acclaimed novel, which also served as the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film, arrives in cinemas this December. In her highly anticipated return to the Met, soprano Renée Fleming joins soprano Kelli O'Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato to portray three women from different eras who grapple with their inner demons and their roles in society. Phelim McDermott, who recently created the Met's acclaimed production of Philip Glass's Akhnaten, directs this compelling drama, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct Puts's powerful score.
Giordano's Fedora—NEW PRODUCTION
Live in HD date: January 14, 2023
Production: David McVicar
Set Designer: Charles Edwards
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designer: Adam Silverman
Marco Armiliato (Conductor); Sonya Yoncheva (Fedora), Rosa Feola (Olga), Piotr Beczała (Loris Ipanoff), Artur Ruciński (De Siriex)
Giordano's exhilarating drama Fedora returns to the Met for the first time in 25 years, starring soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role of the 19th-century princess who falls in love with her fiancé's murderer, Count Loris, sung by tenor Piotr Beczała. Soprano Rosa Feola is the Countess Olga, Fedora's confidante, and baritone Artur Ruciński is the diplomat De Siriex. Marco Armiliato conducts David McVicar's intricate production, with a fixed set that unfolds to reveal the opera's settings: a palace in St. Petersburg, a fashionable Parisian salon, and a picturesque villa in the Swiss Alps.
Wagner's Lohengrin—NEW PRODUCTION
Live in HD date: March 18, 2023
Production: François Girard
Set and Costume Designer: Tim Yip
Lighting Designer: David Finn
Projection Designer: Peter Flaherty
Choreographer: Serge Bennathan
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor); Tamara Wilson (Elsa), Christine Goerke (Ortrud), Piotr Beczała (Lohengrin), Evgeny Nikitin (Telramund), Brian Mulligan (Herald), Günther Groissböck (Heinrich)
Wagner's Lohengrin returns to the Met stage after an absence of 17 years with this atmospheric new staging by François Girard. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a cast led by tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role of the mysterious swan knight. Soprano Tamara Wilson is the virtuous duchess Elsa, falsely accused of murder, going head-to-head with soprano Christine Goerke as the cunning sorceress Ortrud. Bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin is Ortrud's power-hungry husband, Telramund, and bass Günther Groissböck is King Heinrich.
Verdi's Falstaff—REVIVAL
Live in HD date: April 1, 2023
Production: Robert Carsen
Set Designer: Paul Steinberg
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designers: Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet
Daniele Rustioni (Conductor); Hera Hyesang Park (Nannetta); Ailyn Pérez (Alice Ford); Marie- Nicole Lemieux (Mistress Quickly); Jennifer Johnson Cano (Meg Page); Bogdan Volkov (Fenton); Michael Volle (Falstaff); Christopher Maltman (Ford)
Verdi's Shakespearean comedy features a brilliant ensemble cast in Robert Carsen's celebrated staging. Baritone Michael Volle sings his first Verdi role at the Met as the caddish knight Falstaff, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance. Reuniting after their acclaimed performances in the production's 2019 run are soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford, soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano as Meg Page, and mezzo-soprano Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly. Soprano Hera Hyesang Park and tenor Bogdan Volkov are the young couple Nannetta and Fenton, and Daniele Rustioni conducts.
Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier—REVIVAL
Live in HD date: April 15, 2023
Production: Robert Carsen
Set Designer: Paul Steinberg
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designers: Robert Carsen and Peter Van Praet
Choreographer: Philippe Giraudeau
Simone Young (Conductor); Lise Davidsen (Marschallin), Isabel Leonard (Octavian), Erin Morley (Sophie), Katharine Goeldner (Annina), René Barbera (Italian Singer), Thomas Ebenstein (Valzacchi), Markus Brück (Faninal), Günther Groissböck (Baron Ochs)
A stellar trio assembles to take on the lead roles of Strauss's comedy, with soprano Lise Davidsen in her Met role debut as the Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard in her Met role debut as Octavian, and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie. Bass Günther Groissböck returns as Baron Ochs, and Markus Brück is Sophie's father, Faninal. Maestro Simone Young takes the podium to oversee Robert Carsen's fin-de-siècle staging.
Terence Blanchard's Champion—MET PREMIERE
Live in HD date: April 29, 2023
Librettist: Michael Cristofer
Production: James Robinson
Set Designer: Allen Moyer
Costume Designer: Paul Tazewell
Lighting Designer: Donald Holder
Projection Designer: Greg Emetaz
Choreographer: Camille A. Brown
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Conductor); Latonia Moore (Emelda Griffith), Stephanie Blythe (Kathy Hagan), Ryan Speedo Green (Young Emile Griffith), Eric Owens (Emile Griffith)
Six-time Grammy Award-winning composer Terence Blanchard brings his first opera to the Met after his Fire Shut Up in My Bones made history opening the 2021–22 season. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green is the young boxer Emile Griffith, who rises from obscurity to become a world champion, and bass-baritone Eric Owens portrays Griffith's older self, haunted by the ghosts of his past. Soprano Latonia Moore is Emelda Griffith, the boxer's estranged mother, and mezzo- soprano Stephanie Blythe is the bar owner Kathy Hagan. Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns to the podium to conduct Blanchard's second Met premiere. Director James Robinson, whose productions of Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Porgy and Bess brought down the house, oversees the staging. Camille A. Brown, whose choreography electrified audiences in Fire and Porgy, also returns.
Mozart's Don Giovanni—NEW PRODUCTION
Live in HD date: May 20, 2023
Production: Ivo van Hove
Set and Lighting Designer: Jan Versweyveld
Costume Designer: An D'Huys
Projection Designer: Christopher Ash
Choreographer: Sara Erde
Nathalie Stutzmann (Conductor); Federica Lombardi (Donna Anna), Ana María Martínez (Donna Elvira), Ying Fang (Zerlina), Ben Bliss (Don Ottavio), Peter Mattei (Don Giovanni), Adam Plachetka (Leporello), Alfred Walker (Masetto), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Commendatore)
Tony Award-winning director Ivo van Hove makes his Met debut with a new staging of Mozart's tragicomedy Don Giovanni. The tale of deceit and damnation is set in an abstract architectural landscape that explores the dark corners of the story and its characters. Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met debut conducting a star-studded cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as a magnetic Don Giovanni, alongside the Leporello of bass-baritone Adam Plachetka. Sopranos Federica Lombardi, Ana María Martínez, and Ying Fang are Giovanni's conquests—Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Zerlina—and tenor Ben Bliss sings Don Ottavio.
Mozart's Die Zauberflöte—NEW PRODUCTION
Live in HD date: June 3, 2023
Production and Choreography: Simon McBurney
Set Designer: Michael Levine
Costume Designer: Nicky Gillibrand
Lighting Designer: Jean Kalman
Projection Designer: Finn Ross
Sound Designer: Gareth Fry
Nathalie Stutzmann (Conductor); Erin Morley (Pamina), Kathryn Lewek (Queen of the Night), Lawrence Brownlee (Tamino), Thomas Oliemans (Papageno), Alan Held (Speaker), Stephen Milling (Sarastro), Brenton Ryan (Monostatos)
Nathalie Stutzmann conducts her second Mozart work this season with a new production of Die Zauberflöte. In his Met-debut staging, Simon McBurney incorporates projections, sound effects, and acrobatics to match the spectacle and drama of Mozart's fable. The brilliant cast includes soprano Erin Morley as Pamina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, baritone Thomas Oliemans in his Met debut as Papageno, soprano Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and bass Stephen Milling as Sarastro.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
