Live from the Met
Encyclopedia
Live from the Metropolitan Opera (alternate title: Live from the Met) is an American television program that presented performances of complete operas from the Metropolitan Opera
, New York City
, on the Public Broadcasting Service
(PBS) television network. The program began in 1977, and was telecast live for its first few seasons. The first telecast, La Bohème
, featured Luciano Pavarotti
as Rodolfo and Renata Scotto
as Mimi, with James Levine
conducting; all three were interviewed during the intermission. Some of the celebrated opera singers featured on Live from the Met have included Plácido Domingo
, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills
, Samuel Ramey
, Renée Fleming
, Joan Sutherland
, Marilyn Horne
, Renata Scotto
, Leontyne Price
, and Sherrill Milnes
. During its live broadcasts, the program featured lengthy interviews and features on opera topics during the intermissions. These segments were often up to a half-hour in length themselves.
In 1988, the program title was changed to The Metropolitan Opera Presents, to reflect the fact that the performances were now taped prior to broadcast. Live from the Met functioned as a supplement to the regular Saturday Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
. During its first fifteen years, the program was frequently simulcast
, enabling some audiences to hear the opera in stereo via radio as well.
Hosts of the program included Tony Randall
, Beverly Sills
, Speight Jenkins
, Alexander Scourby
, and Garrick Utley
. The announcer was Peter Allen.
The Metropolitan Opera Presents was replaced on PBS in 2007 by a new series, Great Performances
at the Met. Operas aired in this series are repeats of the performances presented live on video in movie theaters in the Met's "Live in HD" series. Unfortunately, it is not always carried by PBS affiliates. Instead, it is shown on some cable channels which are not necessarily part of the basic package.
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, on the Public Broadcasting Service
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(PBS) television network. The program began in 1977, and was telecast live for its first few seasons. The first telecast, La Bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, featured Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti
right|thumb|Luciano Pavarotti performing at the opening of the Constantine Palace in [[Strelna]], 31 May 2003. The concert was part of the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of [[St...
as Rodolfo and Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
as Mimi, with James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
conducting; all three were interviewed during the intermission. Some of the celebrated opera singers featured on Live from the Met have included Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
, Samuel Ramey
Samuel Ramey
Samuel Edward Ramey is an American operatic bass with a long, distinguished career.During his best years, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed a sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique to enable him to sing the music of Handel, Mozart, Rossini, yet power...
, Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also...
, Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
, Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne
Marilyn Horne is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring a large sound, beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages....
, Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto is an Italian soprano and opera director.Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi...
, Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
, and Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes
Sherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
. During its live broadcasts, the program featured lengthy interviews and features on opera topics during the intermissions. These segments were often up to a half-hour in length themselves.
In 1988, the program title was changed to The Metropolitan Opera Presents, to reflect the fact that the performances were now taped prior to broadcast. Live from the Met functioned as a supplement to the regular Saturday Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts are a regular series of weekly broadcasts on network radio of full-length opera performances. They are transmitted live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City...
. During its first fifteen years, the program was frequently simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
, enabling some audiences to hear the opera in stereo via radio as well.
Hosts of the program included Tony Randall
Tony Randall
Tony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
, Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills
Beverly Sills was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist...
, Speight Jenkins
Speight Jenkins
Speight Jenkins Jr is the general director of Seattle Opera. Jenkins, a native of Dallas, Texas, is the son of Speight Jenkins Sr and Sara Baird Jenkins. His B.A. degree is from the University of Texas at Austin, and he graduated in 1961 from Columbia Law School. He served in the US Army, and...
, Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby
Alexander Scourby was an American film, television, and voice actor known for his deep and resonant voice...
, and Garrick Utley
Garrick Utley
Garrick Utley is an American TV journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent covering the war on-site.-Early life:...
. The announcer was Peter Allen.
The Metropolitan Opera Presents was replaced on PBS in 2007 by a new series, Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
at the Met. Operas aired in this series are repeats of the performances presented live on video in movie theaters in the Met's "Live in HD" series. Unfortunately, it is not always carried by PBS affiliates. Instead, it is shown on some cable channels which are not necessarily part of the basic package.