Transmission host Deborah Voigt (left) interviews fellow soprano Renée Fleming, who will sing Desdemona in Otello in October.

Voigt chats with Carmen Giannattasio (center), who makes her Met debut on September 29 as Leonora in Il Trovatore, and National Council Audition winner Janai Brugger, who will debut as Liù in Turandot in October.

Voigt with director Michael Mayer, whose new production of Rigoletto, set in 1960 Las Vegas, opens at the Met on January 28, 2013.

Deborah Voigt served as host of the Opening Night plazacast for the third year in a row.

For the seventh consecutive year, the performance was beamed live to giant screens in Times Square.

More than 2000 people watched on Lincoln Center Plaza.

At intermission, Met radio producer Mary Jo Heath interviewed stars Anna Netrebko and Mariusz Kwiecien, who sang Adina and Belcore.

Interview guests also included legendary tenor Plácido Domingo…

…and designers Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg…

…and Zac Posen.

Mary Jo Heath chatted with set designer Michael Yeargan and costume designer Catherine Zuber on the Elisir set.

Host Deborah Voigt

Voigt with rising Met stars, tenor Alek Shrader and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, who will both be heard in the company premiere of Thomas Adès's The Tempest, which opens October 23.

Tenor Matthew Polenzani, who sang Nemorino, discusses his role with Voigt.

Following the curtain calls on stage, the cast took a bow for the plaza audience on the Met balcony.