Met Opera Live in HD 2021-22
Boris Godunov
By: Modest Mussorgsky
Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his overwhelming portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between grasping ambition and crippling paranoia. Conductor Sebastian Weigle leads Mussorgsky’s masterwork, a pillar of the Russian repertoire, in its original 1869 version, which runs two-and-a-quarter hours with no intermission. Stephen Wadsworth’s affecting production poignantly captures the hope and suffering of the Russian people as well as the tsar himself.
October 9 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 3 hrs 23 min
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
By: Terence Blanchard /
Libretto by Kasi Lemmons
Opening Night of the 2021–22 season will be a historic occasion—the Met's first performance of an opera by a Black composer. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Grammy Award-winning jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard’s adaptation of Charles M. Blow’s moving memoir, which The New York Times praised after its 2019 world premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as “bold and affecting” and “subtly powerful.” Featuring a libretto by filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, the opera tells a poignant and profound story about a young man’s journey to overcome a life of trauma and hardship.
October 23 at 12:55 pm
Run Time Unknown- New Production
Eurydice
By: Matthew Aucoin /
Libretto By Sarah Ruhl
The ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, who attempts to harness the power of music to rescue his beloved Eurydice from the underworld, has inspired composers since opera’s earliest days. Rising American composer Matthew Aucoin now carries that tradition into the 21st century with a captivating new take on the story—a product of the Met’s commissioning program. With a libretto by MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient Sarah Ruhl, adapted from her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the familiar tale from Eurydice’s point of view.
December 4 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 1 hr 30 min
Cinderella – Encore
Holiday Presentation
By: Jules Massenet
Continuing a treasured holiday tradition, the Met presents a new installment in its series of abridged opera adaptations for family audiences. Laurent Pelly’s storybook staging of Massenet’s Cendrillon, a hit of the 2017–18 season, is presented with an all-new English translation in an abridged 90 minutes, with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as its rags-to-riches princess. Maestro Emmanuel Villaume leads a delightful cast, which includes mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo as Cinderella’s Prince Charming, soprano Jessica Pratt as her Fairy Godmother, and mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and bass-baritone Laurent Naouri as her feuding guardians.
January 15 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 2 hrs 22 mins
Rigoletto
By: Giuseppe Verdi
The Met rings in the new year with the gala premiere of a bold new take on Verdi’s timeless tragedy from Bartlett Sher. The Tony Award–winning director resets the opera’s action in 1920s Europe, with Art Deco sets by Michael Yeargan and elegant costumes by Catherine Zuber, themselves boasting a combined eight Tony Awards. Baritone Quinn Kelsey, a commanding artist at the height of his powers, brings his searing portrayal of the title role to the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua, with leading maestro Daniele Rustioni on the podium.
January 29 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 2 hrs 15 mins
Ariadne auf Naxos
By: Richard Strauss
The exhilarating soprano Lise Davidsen brings one of her signature roles to the Met for the first time as the mythological Greek heroine of Strauss’s enchanting masterpiece. The outstanding cast also features mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as the Composer of the opera-within-an-opera around which the plot revolves, with soprano Brenda Rae as the spirited Zerbinetta, tenor Brandon Jovanovich as Ariadne’s lover, the god Bacchus, and Sir Thomas Allen as the Major-Domo. Marek Janowski conducts.
March 12 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 2 hrs 14 mins
Don Carlos
By: Giuseppe Verdi
For the first time in company history, the Met presents the original five-act French version of Verdi’s epic opera of doomed love among royalty, set against the backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a world-beating cast of opera’s leading lights, including tenor Matthew Polenzani in the title role, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Élisabeth de Valois, and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as Eboli. Bass Günther Groissböck and bass-baritone John Relyea are Philippe II and the Grand Inquisitor, and baritone Étienne Dupuis rounds out the all-star principal cast as Rodrigue. Verdi’s masterpiece receives a monumental new staging by Sir David McVicar that marks his 11th Met production, placing him among the most prolific and popular directors in recent Met memory.
March 26 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 3 hrs 35 mins
Turandot
By: Giacomo Puccini
Two of today’s most thrilling voices share the title role of the legendary cold-hearted princess: Christine Goerke, the Met’s reigning dramatic soprano, and superstar Anna Netrebko, making her long-awaited Met role debut after providing a hair-raising preview in 2019’s New Year’s Eve Gala. Tenors Yusif Eyvazov and Yonghoon Lee trade-off as the bold prince determined to win Turandot’s love, alongside sopranos Nicole Car and Michelle Bradley as the devoted servant Liù and bass-baritone James Morris and basses Alexander Tsymbalyuk and Ferruccio Furlanetto as the blind king Timur. Marco Armiliato conducts Puccini’s stirring score.
May 7 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 2 hrs 23 mins
Lucia di Lammermoor
By: Gaetano Donizetti
In recent seasons, soprano Nadine Sierra has brought down the house at the Met with virtuosic vocalism and captivating stage presence as Gilda in Rigoletto, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Ilia in Idomeneo. Now, she takes on one of the repertory’s most formidable and storied roles, the haunted heroine of Lucia di Lammermoor, in an electrifying new staging by in-demand Australian theater and film director Simon Stone, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Show-stopping tenor Javier Camarena adds to the bel canto fireworks as Lucia’s beloved, Edgardo, with baritone Artur Ruciński as her overbearing brother, Enrico, and bass Matthew Rose as her tutor, Raimondo.
May 21 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 2 hrs 23 mins
Hamlet
By: Brett Dean /
Libretto By Matthew Jocelyn
When Australian composer Brett Dean’s Hamlet had its world premiere at the Glyndebourne Festival in 2017, The Guardian declared, “New opera doesn’t often get to sound this good...Shakespeare offers a gauntlet to composers that shouldn’t always be picked up, but Dean’s Hamlet rises to the challenge.” Now, this riveting contemporary masterpiece arrives at the Met, with Neil Armfield, who directed the work’s premiere. Original cast members include tenor Allan Clayton in the title role. Nicholas Carter makes his Met debut conducting a remarkable ensemble, which also features soprano Brenda Rae as Ophelia, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly as Gertrude, baritone Rod Gilfry as Claudius, and legendary bass Sir John Tomlinson as the ghost of Hamlet’s father.
June 4 at 12:55 pm
Run Time 2 hrs 49 mins