Nightly Opera Streams, August 10–16

Discover some of opera’s greatest love stories—with popular favorites by Puccini, Bizet, Verdi, and Wagner—with this guide to the week’s streams.

View the Playbills from the original performance dates for each stream, including synopses, program notes, and more.

Take a look behind the scenes at how the Met’s stage managers, the company’s backstage generals, marshal the vast theatrical forces required for Franco Zeffirelli’s grand staging of Puccini’s Turandot.

Before she appeared in the title role of Manon Lescaut live in HD in 2008, Finnish diva Karita Mattila discussed acting in opera, the flaws in Manon’s character, and the importance of a good relationship with her scene partners.

Tenor Roberto Alagna explores Don José’s devastating Flower Song from Bizet's Carmen.

Verdi’s lesser-known masterpiece had its Met premiere in 1929 with the remarkable Rosa Ponselle in the title role, then disappeared from the company’s repertoire until 1968. Since then, it has received nearly 100 performances with a number of noteworthy artists.

Year in and year out, the 110 artisans in the Met costume shops are responsible for clothing the multitudes that fill the stage night after night—from Chinese ministers to Russian aristocrats to the humble inhabitants of Catfish Row.

After creating 11 productions for the company, director Franco Zeffirelli returned to the Met in 2008 for a revival of his signature production of La Bohème. He spoke about filming opera, respecting Puccini, and the “irresistible fire” of La Bohème.

Live in HD host Renée Fleming speaks with animal trainers Nancy and Paul Novograd about the four-legged stars of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.

In Richard Eyre’s production of Bizet’s masterpiece, which premiered during the 2009–10 season, Carmen’s life-or-death quest for freedom is driven by sex.

In the storied history of the Metropolitan Opera, Luciano Pavarotti, who stars in this week’s stream of Andrea Chénier, holds a secure place as one of the company’s most celebrated tenors.

In ancient China, a princess tests the worthiness of her suitors by posing a series of riddles—killing those who answer incorrectly—until a brave warrior proves he’s up to the challenge. Learn more about Puccini’s Turandot with our In Focus podcast.

Learn about the storied history of Wagner’s operas at the Met, from the house’s opening season in 1883 to the present day.

In this podcast episode, soprano Nadine Sierra and host Rhiannon Giddens discuss the overwhelming emotions of young love and dive into the details of Gilda’s breathtaking Act I aria, “Caro nome.”

Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish production of Puccini’s La Bohème has dazzled audiences for nearly 40 years. This backstage video offers a look behind the scenes at how the monumental sets are changed.

Few artists have had a greater impact on Met history than Franco Zeffirelli, the beloved director and designer who died in 2019.

Arriving at the Met seven months after its world premiere, Puccini’s Turandot has long been a showcase for some of opera’s most exciting artists appearing in equally spectacular stagings.

Marcello Giordani, who passed away in October 2019 and is featured in this week’s free stream of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, was one of the Met’s brightest star tenors in recent decades.

In more than 300 Met performances, great Italian soprano Renata Scotto, who stars in this week’s stream of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, riveted audiences with her idiomatic singing and powerful acting.

She’s one of opera’s iconic heroines, the irresistible Gypsy seductress who leads her jealous lover to tragedy. Learn more about Bizet’s Carmen with our In Focus podcast.

One of the repertory’s most glamorous operas has been matched by equally glamorous casts in more than 200 Met performances since its company premiere in 1907.

With a pair of title roles that have been proclaimed “unsingable” by critics and artists alike, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde has encountered—or possibly courted—more than its fair share of mishaps at the Metropolitan.

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