Opera Catalog

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave and Arrigo Boito based on the play by Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez

Levine; Frittoli, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Furlanetto

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 17 min.

James Levine leads the Met’s musical forces in one of Verdi’s most atmospheric scores, with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role of the Doge of Genoa heading the extraordinary cast. Ferruccio Furlanetto is his nemesis, the noble Fiesco, who is reconciled with Boccanegra just before the Doge’s death. Barbara Frittoli sings Amelia, Boccaneg...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piaveand Arrigo Boito

Cleva; Tebaldi, Shirley, Colzani, Hines

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 10 min.

The great Renata Tebaldi leads the cast as Amelia in this memorable performance of Verdi’s drama, still a rarity on stage in the 1960s. Anselmo Colzani is her father, Simon Boccanegra, the corsair who ascends to power as Doge of Genoa but loses the woman he loves. Reunited with his daughter decades later, he faces political opposition from her love...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave and Arrgo Boito

Luisi; Gheorghiu, Giordani, Hampson, Furlanetto

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 13 min.

Public acclaim and private tragedy are inextricably linked in the story of Simon Boccanegra, sung in this broadcast by the great Thomas Hampson. On the day he is acclaimed Doge of Genoa, his beloved Maria dies, and their infant daughter disappears. Years later, father and daughter (Angela Gheorghiu) are reunited, but the man she loves (Marcello Gio...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave and Arrigo Boito

Levine; Tomowa-Sintow, Moldoveanu, Milnes, Plishka

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 20 min.

The role of Simon Boccanegra is one of the capstones of Verdi’s baritone repertoire. Sherrill Milnes gives a stunning portrayal of the 14th century Genoa doge, singing with both power and poetry, and reminding everyone why audiences acclaimed him the great American Verdi baritone of the day. Anna Tomowa-Sintow is Amelia, his long-lost daughter, in ...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave and Arrigo Boito

Mitropoulos; Milanov, Bergonzi, Guarrera, Tozzi

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 15 min.

Most politicians have things in their past they hope will never come to light. But the Doge of Genoa, Simon Boccanegra (Frank Guarrera) has a deep personal secret. After the woman he loved died, their illegitimate daughter disappeared. Twenty-five years later, he finds Amelia (legendary Verdi soprano Zinka Milanov)—only to realize she’s in love wit...

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave and Arrigo Boito

Levine; Pieczonka, Giordani, Domingo, Morris

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 17 min.

More than 15 years after first thrilling Met audiences with his portrayal of the fiery revolutionary Gabriele Adorno, Plácido Domingo—in an unprecedented artistic tour-de-force—returned to Verdi’s masterpiece, taking on the baritone title role. It’s one of the composer’s richest characters, demanding extraordinary emotional intensity. Audiences hai...

Composer: Vincenzo Bellini
Librettist: Felice Romani

Bonynge; Sutherland, Alexander, Giaiotti

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 1 hrs. 59 min.

The great Joan Sutherland is Amina, the innocent orphan who sleepwalks her way into scandal. She brings her legendary coloratura skills and sumptuous high notes to Bellini’s bel canto showcase, capping the performance with a sensational final scene in which Amina is reunited with her fiancé Elvino, sung by John Alexander. Bonaldo Giaiotti is the my...

Composer: Vincenzo Bellini
Librettist: Felice Romani

Varviso; Sutherland, Gedda, Flagello

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 2 min.

The basic plot of Bellini’s tale of an innocent Swiss girl whose sleepwalking lands her in the middle of a scandal may be difficult to believe. But spectacular singers like Joan Sutherland and Nicolai Gedda sweep away plot concerns with their stylish, impassioned portrayals. Even the most hard-hearted curmudgeon would melt for Joan Sutherland as th...

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Szell; Vinay, Harshaw, Varnay, London, Hines

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 53 min.

In Wagner’s groundbreaking early masterpiece, the splendid Ramón Vinay sings Tannhäuser, the man and artist torn between love of the sensual and the innocent kind, embodied by the sensational Astrid Varnay as Venus and the radiant Margaret Harshaw as the saintly Elisabeth. George Szell leads a superb cast that also includes George London’s Wolfram ...

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Solti; Rysanek, Dalis, Hopf, Prey, Hines

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 59 min.

Two major stars made their Met debuts in this sensational performance: conductor Georg Solti and baritone Hermann Prey. Solti brings out all the theatricality and drama of Wagner’s colorful score, leading a top-notch cast. Prey is Wolfram, the kind and sympathetic man who loves the virtuous Elisabeth (an impassioned Leonie Rysanek). But she is in l...

Composer: Richard Wagner
Librettist: Richard Wagner

Levine; Norman, Randová, Cassilly, Hagegärd, Rootering

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 3 hrs. 15 min.

Wagner’s immortal tale of a man torn between sensual desire and pure, innocent love has always been a specialty of James Levine. Under his direction, the music sweeps passionately one moment and explores the most delicate intimacy the next. The orchestra and chorus provide the full range of color and expression. Jessye Norman gives a sensational pe...

Composer: Jules Massenet
Librettist: Louis Gallet

Pritchard; Sills, Gibbs, Milnes

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus

Approximate running time: 2 hrs. 9 min.

Take one ascetic monk named Athanaël and one ravishingly beautiful courtesan named Thaïs, add Massenet’s sensual, melodious music, with equal dashes of eroticism and religious fervor—and you have a powerful opera that is at once a celebration of the sacred and the profane, of flesh and soul. This rarity had not been heard at the Met for almost 40 y...