Critic’s Picks (March 23 – 29)
This week we’re highlighting three opera houses with exceptional lineups of works for free streaming. The Metropolitan Opera is offering a week of Wagner including the Ring Cycle. The Wiener Staatsoper features warhorses with big stars, such as the 63-year old production of Tosca, likely the oldest opera production anywhere! The third house is the newly reopened Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Quick rundown on the three sources:
• All Metropolitan Opera streams start at 7:30 p.m. EDT and available until 6:30 p.m. the following day.
• Vienna State Opera streams start at 2:00 p.m. CET and available for 72 hours (free registration required).
• Berlin Staatsoper Video-On-Demand changes daily at noon CET and available for 24 hours (free registration required).
Monday 23
Met | Tristan und Isolde Nina Stemme, Ekaterina Gubanova, Stuart Skelton, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape, Simon Rattle (cond.). Performance from October 8, 2016. | Details
Vienna | Tosca Sondra Radvanovsky, Piotr Beczala, Thomas Hampson, Marco Armiliato (cond.). Performance from 17 February 2019. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper |”Staatsoper für alle” Beethoven Symphony No. 9. Diana Damrau, Okka von der Damerau, Burkhard Fritz, René Pape, Staatsopernchor & Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (cond). Performance from September 30, 2017. | Details
Tuesday 24
Met | Das Rheingold Wendy Bryn Harmer, Stephanie Blythe, Richard Croft, Gerhard Siegel, Dwayne Croft, Bryn Terfel, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König, James Levine (cond.) Performance from October 9, 2010. | Details
Vienna | L’Elisir d’Amore Olga Peretyatko, Dmitry Korchak, Alessio Arduini, Adam Plachetka, Ileana Tonca, Marco Armiliato (cond.) Performance from 26, Feb. 2017. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper | Schwanensee Staatsballett Berlin, Staatskapelle Berlin Daniel Barenboim (cond.) | Details
Wednesday 25
Met | Die Walküre Deborah Voigt, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Stephanie Blythe, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, Hans-Peter König. James Levine (cond.) Performance from May 14, 2011. | Details
Vienna | La Cenerentola Maxim Mironov, Alessio Arduini, Renato Girolami, Eri Nakamura, Catherine Trottmann, Elena Maximova, Michele Pertusi. Speranza Scappucci (cond.) Performance from November 10, 2016. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper | Falstaff Michael Volle, Barbara Frittoli, Alfredo Daza, Nadine Sierra, Francesco Demuro. Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (cond.) | Details
Thursday 26
Met | Siegfried Deborah Voigt, Jay Hunter Morris, Gerhard Siegel, Bryn Terfel, and Eric Owens, Fabio Luisi (cond.) Performance from November 5, 2011. | Details
Vienna | Tosca Karine Babajanyan, Piotr Beczała, Carlos Alvarez, Marco Armiliato (cond.) Performance from 23 June 2019. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper | Hippolyte et Aricie Anna Prohaska, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Magdalena Kožená, Elsa Dreisig Gyula Orendt, Staatsopernchor und Freiburger Barockorchester. Simon Rattle (cond.) | Details
Friday 27
Met | Götterdämmerung Deborah Voigt, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Waltraud Meier, Jay Hunter Morris, Iain Paterson, Eric Owens, and Hans-Peter König, Fabio Luisi (cond.) Performance from February 11, 2012. | Details
Vienna | Le Nozze di Figaro Carlos Álvarez, Dorothea Röschmann, Andrea Carroll, Adam Plachetka, Margarita Gritskova, Adam Fischer (cond.) Performance from 15 Sept. 2017. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper | Carmen Anita Rachvelishvili, Michael Fabiano, Lucio Gallo, Christiane Karg, Staatsopernchor und Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (cond.) | Details
Saturday 28
Met | Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Annette Dasch, Johan Botha, Paul Appleby, and Michael Volle, James Levine (cond.) Performance from December 13, 2014. | Details
Vienna | Götterdämmerung Stephen Gould, Iréne Theorin, Anna Gabler, Falk Struckmann, Tomasz Konieczny, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Waltraud Meier. Axel Kober (cond.) Performance from 20 January 2019. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper | Macbeth Plácido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Kwangchul Youn, Fabio Sartori, Staatsopernchor und Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (cond.) | Details
Sunday 29
Met | Tannhäuser Eva-Maria Westbroek, Michelle DeYoung, Johan Botha, Peter Mattei, and Gunther Groissböck, James Levine (cond.) Performance from October 31, 2015. | Details
Vienna | Roméo et Juliette Aida Garifullina, Rachel Frenkel, Rosie Aldridge, Juan Diego Flórez, Carlos Osuna, Placido Domingo (cond.) Performance from 1 February 2017. | Details
Berlin Staatsoper | Manon Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Alfredo Daza, Christof Fischesser, Remy Corazza, Staatsopernchor & Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim (cond.) | Details
Here are more interesting free streams by opera companies, as well as free streaming by individual artists:
• Deutsche Oper Berlin
• Against the Grain Theatre: La Boheme
• Paris Opera
• Mezzo Beste Kalender and pianist Rachel Andrist A Spring Concert: From Venice to Constantinople
Keep the music going!
#LUDWIGVAN
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