Nightly Opera Streams, April 27–May 3

Multiple English monarchs, an Ethiopian princess, and a Slavic prince hold court in this week’s lineup of free opera streams. This guide below will help you keep up with all the royal intrigue.

View the Playbills from the original performance dates for each stream, including synopses, program notes, and more.

Learn about one of the greatest voices in Met history—the legendary soprano Leontyne Price, whose 1985 farewell performance of Aida is featured in this week’s streaming schedule.

Composer Nico Muhly describes the fascinating sound-world and diverse musical elements of his 2018 opera Marnie, and the inspirations behind his artistic process.

To open the 2011–12 season, Anna Netrebko gave the company its first-ever portrayal of Donizetti’s Anne Boleyn. In this video about the Met premiere production of Anna Bolena, Netrebko and director David McVicar discuss the dazzling opera’s many merits.

Director Dmitri Tcherniakov outlines the epic story of Borodin’s Prince Igor, which graced the Met stage for the first time in nearly a century in 2014, and discusses his quest to bring greater awareness to Russian opera.

The revival of the bel canto repertoire that began in the mid–20th century was late in coming to the Met, but the company has made up for lost time in recent years, including with important productions of Donizetti’s three operas based on the lives of Anne Boleyn, Mary Stuart, and Elizabeth I.

During the 2015–16 season, Sondra Radvanovsky sang all three of Donizetti’s Tudor Queens, a historic feat that culminated in her starring in Sir David McVicar’s Met-premiere production of Roberto Devereux.

Designer Arianne Phillips and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, who sang the title role of Nico Muhly’s Marnie, discuss the production’s stunning 1960s costumes with Live in HD host Susan Graham.

Soprano Sonya Yoncheva tells Live in HD host Joyce DiDonato about Verdi’s mid-career masterpiece Luisa Miller, and weighs in on her experience singing the tragic title role.

Resources from the Met’s education department are available for many of the operas featured in this streaming series. Designed for use in the classroom, they are perfect for parents whose kids are now learning from home, or for anyone who’d like to know more about opera.

Star diva Anna Netrebko opened the 2011–12 season in the title role of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, headlining Sir David McVicar’s historically detailed Met-premiere production.

Director Dmitri Tcherniakov spent countless hours poring over scores, research, and other historical documents to piece together a new vision of Borodin’s Prince Igor in 2014.

Designer John Macfarlane and director David McVicar discuss the opulent courts and stark forests on display in their Met-premiere production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda.

Verdi’s lesser-known masterpiece had its Met premiere in 1929 with the remarkable Rosa Ponselle in the title role, then disappeared from the company’s repertoire until 1968. Since then, it has received nearly 100 performances with a number of noteworthy artists.

Theft, denial, deceit, and a captivating, enigmatic heroine. Learn more about Nico Muhly’s contemporary opera Marnie with our In Focus podcast.

Set and costume designer Santo Loquasto, a longtime Broadway master and four-time Tony-winner, has created striking sets and costumes for four Met productions, including the staging of Luisa Miller being screened this week.

Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece Maria Stuarda had its Met premiere in 2012—a true cause for celebration, according to star Joyce DiDonato and director Sir David McVicar.

Matthew Polenzani, who sang the title role of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux in 2016, discusses why the combination of bel canto and history makes for great operatic storytelling.

Nico Muhly’s gripping new opera Marnie arrived at the Met for its U.S. premiere in October 2018, in a fast-paced production by Michael Mayer.

Roberto Devereux follows the ill-fated final years of Queen Elizabeth I, as she struggles to navigate monarchical duty and illicit romance. In this 2016 production preview, director David McVicar and soprano Sondra Radvanovsky discuss the opera’s important place in Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy.