The Met Celebrates Black History Month With Two Weeks of Nightly Opera Streams Featuring African-American Singers

The Met has announced themed lineups for the first two weeks of February in its ongoing series of Nightly Met Opera Streams, a free series of encore Live in HD presentations and classic telecasts streamed on the company's website during the coronavirus closure. Celebrating Black History Month, these two weeks of streams, February 1-14, feature Met performances by some of the greatest African-America singers from the last 50 years, including Leontyne Price, Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Shirley Verrett, Florence Quivar, Lawrence Brownlee, Eric Owens, and more.

All Nightly Met Opera Streams begin at 7:30pm and remain available via metopera.org for 23 hours. The performances are also accessible on all Met Opera on Demand apps.

Week 47- Black History Month at the Met: Part I

Monday, February 1 - The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess

Starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker, and Donovan Singletary, conducted by David Robertson. Production by James Robinson. From February 1, 2020.

Tuesday, February 2 - Verdi's La Forza del Destino

Starring Leontyne Price, Isola Jones, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Production by John Dexter. From March 24, 1984.

Wednesday, February 3 - Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites

Starring Maria Ewing, Jessye Norman, Betsy Norden, Régine Crespin, and Florence Quivar, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. Production by John Dexter. From April 4, 1987.

Thursday, February 4 - Rossini's La Cenerentola

Starring Elina Garanča, Lawrence Brownlee, Simone Alberghini, Alessandro Corbelli, and John Relyea, conducted by Maurizio Benini. Production by Cesare Lievi. From May 9, 2009.

Friday, February 5 - Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro

Starring Carol Vaness, Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Thomas Allen, and Ruggero Raimondi, conducted by James Levine. Production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. From December 14, 1985.

Saturday, February 6 - Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos

Starring Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Tatiana Troyanos, and James King, conducted by James Levine. Production by Bodo Igesz. From March 12, 1988.

Sunday, February 7 - Puccini's Tosca

Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Conlon. Directed by Tito Gobbi. From December 19, 1978.

Week 48- Black History Month at the Met: Part II

Monday, February 8 - Wagner's Das Rheingold

Starring Wendy Bryn Harmer, Stephanie Blythe, Patricia Bardon, Richard Croft, Gerhard Siegel, Dwayne Croft, Bryn Terfel, Eric Owens, Franz-Josef Selig, and Hans-Peter König, conducted by James Levine. Production by Robert Lepage. From October 9, 2010.

Tuesday, February 9 - Verdi's Ernani

Starring Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, and Ruggero Raimondi, conducted by James Levine. Production by Pier Luigi Samaritani. From December 17, 1983.

Wednesday, February 10 - Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Starring Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Leo Nucci, Enzo Dara, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, conducted by Ralf Weikert. Production by John Cox. From December 3, 1988.

Thursday, February 11 - Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera

Starring Aprile Millo, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Luciano Pavarotti, and Leo Nucci, conducted by James Levine. Production by Piero Faggioni. From January 26, 1991.

Friday, February 12 - Philip Glass's Akhnaten

Starring Dísella Lárusdóttir, J'Nai Bridges, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Aaron Blake, Will Liverman, Richard Bernstein, and Zachary James, conducted by Karen Kamensek. Production by Phelim McDermott. From November 23, 2019.

Saturday, February 13 - Berlioz's Les Troyens

Starring Tatiana Troyanos, Jessye Norman, Plácido Domingo, and Allan Monk, conducted by James Levine. Production by Fabrizio Melano. From October 8, 1983.

Sunday, February 14 - Wagner's Die Walküre

Starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, and Kurt Moll, conducted by James Levine. Production by Otto Schenk. From April 8, 1989.