With its hilarious hijinks and vocal virtuosity, Rossini’s madcap comedy always proves a delightful treat. For this 1988 telecast, the Met assembled a cast capable of tackling both the musical and physical challenges of this bel canto farce, seen here in a whimsical production by John Cox. From the moment he takes the stage with Figaro’s iconic aria “Largo al factotum,” Leo Nucci combines winning charm with a robust baritone. Soprano Kathleen Battle tosses off one glittering vocal display after another as the feisty Rosina, while tenor Rowell Blake makes for an ardent Count Almaviva. Ralf Weikert conducts the lively performance, which also includes the comic duo of Enzo Dara as Dr. Bartolo and Ferruccio Furlanetto as Don Basilio.
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendettas, and family strife, with stellar soprano Lise Davidsen as the noble Leonora, one of the repertory’s most tormented—and thrilling—heroines.
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Who loves whom in Così fan tutte, Mozart’s and Da Ponte’s cruelly comic reflection on desire, fidelity and betrayal? Or have the confusions to which the main characters subject one another ensured that in spite of the heartfelt love duets and superficially fleetfooted comedy nothing will work any longer and that a sense of emotional erosion has replaced true feelings? Così fan tutte is a timeless work full of questions that affect us all.
Composer Thomas Adès conducts the Met premiere of his powerful opera based on Shakespeare’s last play, in Robert Lepage’s brilliantly inventive production.
France, 1792. Chenier is an idealistic poet, in love with the aristocratic Maddalena. While Chenier supports such notions as "liberte, fraternite egalite," his sympathies do not extend to the current Reign of Terror.
This first film of Cyprus' first director, Giorgios Filis, depicts music and dance customs in the form and style of a folk opera, with traditional Cypriot dances and songs.
A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.
A St. Louis cop, Mike Braxton (Sam Jones), receives an urgent call for help from his brother Tony (Nick Cassavetes), a small time thief in Los Angeles.