Nightly Opera Streams, February 1–7

Celebrate Black History Month with the first of two weeks of Nightly Opera Streams showcasing some of opera’s most extraordinary African American artists. Explore the full lineup with this guide to the week.

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

Our exhibition chronicling the extensive contributions made by African American artists at the Met and the decades-long struggle for racial equality at the nation's leading opera company—originally installed in the opera house in connection with the 2019 new production of Porgy and Bess—is now available in digital format.

Learn about one of the greatest voices in Met history—the legendary soprano Leontyne Price, who stars in this week’s stream of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, in a telecast from 1984.

The Met’s new production of Porgy and Bess was a sold-out sensation, thanks in no small part to its choreographer Camille A. Brown, a native New Yorker whose work has also dazzled on Broadway and national television.

Puccini’s operatic thrill ride Tosca features a fictional diva that’s one of the ultimate showcases for the real thing. But at a time when the term “diva” is thrown around seemingly willy-nilly, what exactly did the composer have in mind?

In the fall of 2019, the entire Met family—along with the opera world at large—mourned the loss of Jessye Norman, one of the great sopranos of the past half-century.

Host Rhiannon Giddens explores the enduring legacy of the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess in an episode of our Aria Code podcast.

In this show-stopping aria from Act II of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, tenor Lawrence Brownlee shows off the elegant musicianship and brilliant agility that make him one of the world's most sought-after bel canto singers.

When James Robinson’s new production of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess opened the Met’s 2019–20 season, it marked the latest chapter in the endlessly fascinating journey of what many believe is our nation’s greatest homegrown opera.

Celebrated soprano Kathleen Battle, who stars in this week’s streams of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, mesmerized Met audiences with the purity and beauty of her voice. Read about her career with the company.

Amid the chaos of the French Revolution, an order of nuns commit the ultimate act of martyrdom, giving opera one of its most devastating and unforgettable final scenes. Learn more about Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites with our In Focus podcast.

On Opening Night of the 2019–20 season, nearly every member of the 60-person chorus of Porgy and Bess was appearing on the Met stage for the very first time. Get to know just a few members of this superb ensemble.

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and host Rhiannon Giddens discuss the title character’s aria “Nacqui all’affanno … Non più mesta” in this episode of our Aria Code podcast, a collaboration with WQXR.

The Met has presented nearly 1,000 performances of Puccini’s Tosca, starting with the work’s U.S. premiere in 1901. Explore the opera’s fascinating history at the Met.

In January 2020, cast members of the Met’s hit new production of Porgy and Bess—including bass-baritone Eric Owens and choreographer Camille A. Brown—came together for a fascinating conversation moderated by Terrance McKnight.

The operas of Giuseppe Verdi have been performed around 5,700 times at the Metropolitan Opera, more than those of any other composer by a wide margin.

The Met’s Dialogues des Carmélites production by John Dexter is one of the company’s most successful and admired stagings. Learn about how it came to be.

Though a rarity on the Met stage in the company’s early decades, Mozart’s masterpiece of comedy and social commentary has been a cornerstone of the Met repertory for the past 80 years, brought to life by a parade of great singers and conductors.

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