The Metropolitan Opera in Your Homes – 2020 Wrap-Up

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Maria-Cristina Necula in Playing Around

Since March, the Metropolitan Opera has been with us every night and every day. In a continuous gift of singing, music, and theatre, they have kept the magic of opera present and relevant, both in celebration and in solace of the human spirit and its resilience. As we count down to the end of 2020, the Met continues to transport us into thrilling operatic realms. The spectacular performances throughout December span various themes: from groundbreaking operas in English to grand historical, Biblical, and literary epics, and from sparkling, humorous, and touching “holiday” tales to the unparalleled brilliance of legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti. The nightly opera stream starts at 7:30 p.m. on the Met’s homepage and can be accessed for 22 hours. Please click on the title of each opera below for more information and the link to the full synopsis. 

“IN PLAIN ENGLISH” WEEK

Monday, December 7
Thomas Adès’s The Tempest – Starring Audrey Luna, Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, Alek Shrader, Alan Oke, William Burden, Toby Spence, and Simon Keenlyside, conducted by Thomas Adès. From November 10, 2012.

Tuesday, December 8
John Adams’ Doctor Atomic – Starring Sasha Cooke, Thomas Glenn, Gerald Finley, Richard Paul Fink, and Eric Owens, conducted by Alan Gilbert. From November 8, 2008.

Wednesday, December 9
Britten’s Peter Grimes – Starring Patricia Racette, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Anthony Michaels-Moore, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. From March 15, 2008.

Thursday, December 10
Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel – Starring Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan,  Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Frédéric Antoun, David Portillo, David Adam Moore, Rod Gilfry, Kevin Burdette, Christian Van Horn, and John Tomlinson. conducted by Thomas Adès. From November 18, 2017.

Friday, December 11
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess – Starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker, and Donovan Singletary, conducted by David Robertson. From February 1, 2020.

Saturday, December 12
Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – Starring Teresa Stratas, Astrid Varnay, Richard Cassilly, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Levine. From November 27, 1979.

Sunday, December 13
John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles – Starring Teresa Stratas, Håkan Hagegård, Gino Quilico, Graham Clark, Marilyn Horne, and Renée Fleming, conducted by James Levine. From January 10, 1992.

“EPIC PROPORTIONS” WEEK

Monday, December 14
Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila – Starring Elina Garanca, Roberto Alagna, Laurent Naouri, Elchin Azizov, and Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. From October 20, 2018.

Tuesday, December 15
Wagner’s Lohengrin – Starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar, and John Macurdy, conducted by James Levine. From January 10, 1986.

Wednesday, December 16
Berlioz’s Les Troyens – Starring Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Karen Cargill, Bryan Hymel, Eric Cutler, Dwayne Croft, and Kwangchoul Youn, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From January 5, 2013.

Thursday, December 17
Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini – Starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Levine. From April 7, 1984.

Friday, December 18
Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov – Starring Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Oleg Balashov, Evgeny Nikitin, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko, and Vladimir Ognovenko, conducted by Valery Gergiev. From October 23, 2010.

Saturday, December 19
Verdi’s Nabucco – Starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo, and Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by James Levine. From January 7, 2017.

Sunday, December 20
Wagner’s Götterdämmerung – Starring Deborah Voigt, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Waltraud Meier, Jay Hunter Morris, Iain Paterson, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From February 11, 2012.

HOLIDAY FARE WEEK

Monday, December 21
Mozart’s The Magic Flute – Starring Ying Huang, Erika Miklósa, Matthew Polenzani, Nathan Gunn, and René Pape, conducted by James Levine. From December 30, 2006.

Tuesday, December 22
Massenet’s Cendrillon – Starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, and Laurent Naouri, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. From April 28, 2018.

Wednesday, December 23
Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia – Starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman, Maurizo Muraro, and Paata Burchuladze, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From November 22, 2014.

Thursday, December 24
Puccini’s La Bohème – Starring Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Richard Stilwell, and James Morris, conducted by James Levine. From January 16, 1982.

Friday, December 25
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel – Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008.

Saturday, December 26
Lehár’s The Merry Widow – Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader, and Sir Thomas Allen, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From January 17, 2015.

Sunday, December 27
Verdi’s Falstaff – Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine. From December 14, 2013.

 
PAVAROTTI WEEK

Monday, December 28
Puccini’s La Bohème – Starring Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, and Paul Plishka, conducted by James Levine. From March 15, 1977.

Tuesday, December 29
Puccini’s Tosca – Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.

Wednesday, December 30
Verdi’s Rigoletto – Starring Christiane Eda-Pierre, Isola Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico, and Ara Berberian, conducted by James Levine. From December 15, 1981.

Thursday, December 31
Verdi’s Ernani – Starring Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, and Ruggero Raimondi, conducted by James Levine. From December 17, 1983.

Friday, January 1
Verdi’s Il Trovatore – Starring Eva Marton, Dolora Zajick, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, and Jeffrey Wells, conducted by James Levine. From October 15, 1988.

Saturday, January 2
Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera – Starring Aprile Millo, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Luciano Pavarotti, and Leo Nucci, conducted by James Levine. From January 26, 1991.

Sunday, January 3
Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore – Starring Kathleen Battle, Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Pons, and Enzo Dara, conducted by James Levine. From November 16, 1991.

Top photo: Bigstock

About Maria-Cristina Necula (182 Articles)
Maria-Cristina Necula’s published work includes the books "The Don Carlos Enigma: Variations of Historical Fictions" and "Life in Opera: Truth, Tempo and Soul," two translations: "Europe à la carte" and Molière’s "The School for Wives," and the collection of poems "Evanescent." Her articles and interviews have been featured in "Classical Singer" Magazine, "Opera America," "Das Opernglas," "Studies in European Cinema," and "Opera News." As a classically trained singer she has performed in the New York City area at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Florence Gould Hall, and the Westchester Broadway Theatre, and has presented on opera at The Graduate Center, Baruch, The City College of New York, and UCLA Southland. She speaks six languages, two of which she honed at the Sorbonne University in Paris and the University of Vienna, and she holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from The Graduate Center, CUNY. In 2022, Maria-Cristina was awarded a New York Press Club Award in the Critical Arts Review category for her review of Matthew Aucoin's "Eurydice" at the Metropolitan Opera, published on Woman Around Town. She is a 2022-24 Fellow of The Writers' Institute at The Graduate Center.

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