Can’t get to the opera? The opera will come to you!
The Met, which has been forced to cancel its performances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, has given music lovers a gift: the chance to livestream its acclaimed “Live in HD” performances, starting Monday night with Bizet’s “Carmen.”
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who was supposed to perform in Massenet’s “Werther” at the Met this week with Piotr Beczała, took to Facebook with him to livestream a few excerpts, including a love duet. She urged her listeners to support freelance musicians during this difficult time. The excerpts already have about 250,000 views.
“Since we can’t sing on Monday night,” she wrote, “we thought let’s get together in a soiree . . . like they used to in the old days, which we might have to do in the new days, too, and get together and sing.”
All nightly streamings start at 7:30 p.m. and will remain on the Met’s home page at MetOpera.org for 20 hours.
“We’d like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times,” Met general manager Peter Gelb announced. Brava!
Here’s the schedule for the rest of the week, along with the date the performance was recorded.
Tuesday, March 17: Puccini’s “La Bohème,” conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas (April 5, 2008).
Wednesday, March 18: Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Oct. 3, 2015).
Thursday, March 19: Verdi’s “La Traviata,” conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez and Quinn Kelsey (Dec. 15, 2018).
Friday, March 20: Donizetti’s “La Fille du Régiment,” conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez (April 26, 2008).
Saturday, March 21: Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała and Mariusz Kwiecien (Feb. 7, 2009).
Sunday, March 22: Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” conducted by Valery Gergiev, starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Feb. 24, 2007).
If opera isn’t your cup of tea, Universal will make its current crop of flicks available for streaming on Friday, March 20 — for a fee: Stream “The Invisible Man,” “Emma.” and “The Hunt” via Sky, Apple, Comcast and Amazon for $19.99, which buys you 48 hours, popcorn not included.
Ref;nypost.com