Nightly Opera Streams, April 5–11

This week of Nightly Opera Streams features a powerful lineup of operas inspired by some of the world’s greatest literary masterpieces. Learn more with this brief guide.

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

Based on Gogol, Shostakovich’s The Nose relates the satirical story of a man who wakes up one morning to discover his nose has disappeared. In this discussion, General Manager Peter Gelb speaks with artist and director William Kentridge about absurdism.

Peter Mattei, who starred in the title role of Eugene Onegin in 2017, discusses Tchaikovsky’s enigmatic antihero who professes love too late.

From an early vogue in the 1890s to a revival of popularity in recent decades, learn about the Met history of Gounod’s soaring Shakespeare adaptation.

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.”

The term “multidisciplinary” could have been coined for artist and director William Kentridge, whose work incorporates drawing, painting, film, animation, sound recording, live performance, and a shrewd, politically engaged intelligence.

Before starring in the Met’s 2007 Live in HD transmission of Roméo et Juliette, tenor Roberto Alagna discussed bringing Gounod’s Shakespearean hero to the big screen.

In the storied history of the Metropolitan Opera, Luciano Pavarotti holds a secure place as one of the company’s most celebrated tenors.

In the Met’s 2011 production of Gounod’s Faust, which starred Jonas Kaufmann, director Des McAnuff reimagined the classic legend with a dreamlike staging set in the first half of the 20th century.

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

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.

In the world of Shostakovich’s The Nose, as conceived by William Kentridge, body parts vanish and turn up as public officials, Anna Pavlova dances with a giant nose on her head, and life is ruled by what the director calls “an absurd logic.”

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.

Set and costume designer Santo Loquasto, a longtime Broadway master and four-time Tony-winner, has created striking sets and costumes for four Met productions, including the staging of Luisa Miller being screened this week.

Despite rare appearances on the Met stage, Zandonai’s sweeping adaptation of Dante, Francesca da Rimini, has never failed to thrill audiences.

Learn about the Met career of great American baritone Cornell MacNeil, one of the great singers of the second half of the 20th century, who stars in this week’s stream of Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini.

Tony Award–winning director Des McAnuff discusses his dreamlike, 20th-century staging of Faust, Gounod’s classic operatic take on the elderly scholar who sells his soul in return for eternal youth.

Tchaikovsky’s romantic adaptation of Pushkin got a slow start at the Metropolitan, but, especially in recent decades, it has become the most popular Russian opera in the company’s repertoire.

Superstar soprano Anna Netrebko has appeared in more Live in HD transmissions than any other principal artist. Watch highlights from a dozen of her roles, including this week’s stream of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur.

Drawn from every era of operatic composition, from the Baroque to the modern day, a wide array of enthralling French works have appeared on the Met stage.

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