As music director of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years, Herbert von Karajan remains one of the most discussed, analyzed and written-about conductors of all time. He was called the ‘General Music Director of Europe,’ leading orchestras and opera houses in Berlin, London, Vienna, Milan and Paris to become one of the most respected, yet [...]

Over the centuries, the story of Cinderella and her cruel stepmother and ugly stepsisters has been interpreted in countless ways across different genres. Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola is perhaps the most famous operatic version of the Cinderella story, and it is like no other interpretation. This opera has no fairy godmother, no pumpkin that turns [...]

For our Sunday Arts profile, Rafael Pi Ramon interviews Martina Arroyo and takes a look into her “Prelude to Performance” workshops while the students are preparing for performances of La Boheme and Die Fledermaus beginning on July 16th at Hunter College Kaye Playhouse.
For many  years, Martina Arroyo was a star on the stages of the [...]

Natalie Dessay’s moon-kissed fingernails are all aglow as she “walks the walk” of Vincenzo Bellini’s quintessential character Amina, perhaps the most renowned woman sleepwalker in opera history, in Zimmerman’s production of the 1831 classic La Sonnambula, Latin for “The Somnambulist.” The production will air on THIRTEEN’s Great Performances at the Met July 19 at noon [...]

Anthony Minghella’s sumptuous production of Madama Butterfly, Giacomo Puccini’s heartbreaking tale of love and betrayal, offers viewers a rare visual treat Sunday, June 28 at noon on Great Performances at the Met.
Minghella, who died unexpectedly in March 2008, marks his debut in opera with the re-staging of Madama Butterfly – this is also the first [...]

Airing May 17 at noon, Orfeo ed Euridice is the mythical tale of poet-singer Orfeo, who driven by despair, enters the underworld determined to retrieve his dead wife. Mezzo-Soprano Blythe, in her first performance as Orfeo, battles the Furies with her powerhouse voice and “conveys piercing emotional subtleties with every glance and phrase,” wrote The [...]

Opera’s golden couple, Angela Gheorghiu and husband Roberto Alagna, offer viewers a rare chance to experience Giacomo Puccini’s attempt to meld Italianate opera with the bittersweet Viennese operetta formula Sunday, April 26 at noon (ET) for Thirteen’s SundayArts showcase. Last seen at the Met in 1936, La Rondine (The Swallow) is the tale of an [...]

Soprano Netrebko, returning to the Met stage for the first time since giving birth to son Tiago in September, dazzles in the demanding title role, a young woman driven to madness by love and politics. Piotr Beczala co-stars as Lucia’s head-strong lover Edgardo.
Watch a preview for this SundayArts broadcast of Great Performances at the Met.