The Metropolitan Opera's Nightly Met Opera Streams series, bringing opera to people's homes during the coronavirus pandemic, enters its second week with a lineup of all Wagner titles. So consider switching up your self-isolation routine with a total of 29.5 hours of German drama.
The week begins with the Met's 2016 production of Tristan und Isolde, which is slated to return to the stage this fall with Stuart Skelton (reprising his performance from 2016) and Christine Goerke in the title roles. Wagner's Ring Cycle, as filmed over the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 seasons, plays out in its entirety over the next four nights. Two relatively lighter titles round out the slate: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tannhäuser.
All titles will be free to stream from the company's homepage starting at 7:30 PM and will be available for the following 23 hours. Each of the performances—and several others—are also cataloged in the Met's On Demand subscription service.
The initiative proved to be a popular offering among arts organizations that have had to dramatically alter its operations for the foreseeable future, with opera aficionados and novices alike tuning in—some while live tweeting.
Though the show goes on online, the Met made the call last week to bring down the curtain for the remainder of the 2019–2020 season, causing the New York institution to furlough its unionized employees (including the Met Orchestra and Chorus). "We send our thanks to our loyal audiences and we’re doing our best to support our employees during this extraordinarily difficult time," General Manager Peter Gelb said in a statement. "We look forward to being reunited in the fall with a new season."
See below for Nightly Met Opera Streams schedules for the weeks of March 23 and March 30.
March 23: Tristan und Isolde
Conducted by Simon Rattle, starring Nina Stemme, Ekaterina Gubanova, Stuart Skelton, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape. (Originally broadcast October 8, 2016.)
March 24: Das Rheingold
Conducted by James Levine, starring Wendy Bryn Harmer, Stephanie Blythe, Richard Croft, Gerhard Siegel, Dwayne Croft, Bryn Terfel, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König. (Originally broadcast October 9, 2010.)
March 25: Die Walküre
Conducted by James Levine, starring Deborah Voigt, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Stephanie Blythe, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, and Hans-Peter König. (Originally broadcast May 14, 2011.)
March 26: Siegfried
Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Deborah Voigt, Hunter Morris, Gerhard Siegel, Bryn Terfel, and Eric Owens. (Originally broadcast November 5, 2011.)
March 27: Götterdämmerung
Conducted by Fabio Luisi, starring Deborah Voigt, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Waltraud Meier, Jay Hunter Morris, Iain Paterson, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König. (Originally broadcast February 11, 2012.)
March 28: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Conducted by James Levine, starring Annette Dasch, Johan Botha, Paul Appleby, and Michael Volle. (Originally broadcast December 13, 2014.)
March 29: Tannhäuser
Conducted by James Levine, starring Eva-Marie Westbroek, Michelle DeYoung, Johan Botha, Peter Mattei, and Gunther Groissböck. (Originally broadcast October 31, 2015.)
The lineup for the week of March 30 will feature Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, John Adams' Nixon in China, Verdi's Don Carlo, Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Verdi's Macbeth, and Bellini's Norma.
