Bluebeard's Castle

The sole opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, Bluebeard’s Castle is an intense psychological journey, a powerful drama of inner emotion, and a tour de force for just two singers. In it, Bluebeard’s bride, Judith, prods her new husband to open seven doors—despite his increasingly dire warnings about what lies behind them. In this gripping telecast from 1989, two singers at the height of their vocal and interpretive powers, soprano Jessye Norman and bass Samuel Ramey, join forces as the principal pair, headlining an atmospheric staging by director Göran Järvefelt. Maestro James Levine takes the podium to conduct the incomparable Met Orchestra—who play a starring role in their own right—in one of the defining scores of the 20th century.