Stream Free Comic Operas This Week From The Metropolitan Opera

Despite the Metropolitan Opera’s closure until September 2021, the famous institution is still delivering top-tier entertainment - digitally! Each night this week (October 19 through October 25), The Met is continuing to stream full productions from its archives straight to opera fan’s homes. This week’s selection of productions includes comic works by Rossini, Mozart, Verdi, Strauss and Lehár.

You can catch the nightly stream on the Met’s website starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT (12:30 a.m. BST) and it will remain available through 6:30 p.m. EDT the following evening. Additionally, fans can access the productions on multiple devices via the Met Opera on Demand app. Most of the operas this week were originally captured in high definition for movie theater screening as part of the Met’s highly praised Live in HD series.

Included in this week’s schedule are three operas by composer Gioachino Rossini: a 1997 production of La Cenerentola, starring mezzo fan-favorite Cecilia Bartoli as Cinderella, and more recent productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Le Comte Ory, both starring Juan Diego Flórez and Joyce DiDonato. Fans can enjoy captivating performances by Broadway superstar Kelli O’Hara in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, which transports viewers to 1950s Coney Island, as well as Lehár’s The Merry Widow alongside the magnetic Renée Fleming. Featured in the tail end of this week’s roster are Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier and a 1992 production of Verdi’s Falstaff with Paul Plishka.

Overwhelmed with options? The Met is offering a handy guide of brief summaries and musical descriptions to this week’s schedule along with informational articles and podcasts to help you make your decision! The lineup for this week’s productions (week 32) is listed below.

Monday, October 19: Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Starring Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Peter Mattei, John Del Carlo and John Relyea. Conducted by Maurizio Benini. Transmitted live on March 24, 2007.

Tuesday, October 20: Lehár’s The Merry Widow

Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader and Thomas Allen. Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Transmitted live on January 17, 2015.

Wednesday, October 21: Mozart’s Così fan tutte

Starring Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Kelli O’Hara, Ben Bliss, Adam Plachetka and Christopher Maltman. Conducted by David Robertson. Transmitted live on March 31, 2018.

Thursday, October 22: Rossini’s La Cenerentola

Starring Cecilia Bartoli, Ramón Vargas, Simone Alaimo and Alessandro Corbelli. Conducted by James Levine. From October 27, 1997.

Friday, October 23: Verdi’s Falstaff

Starring Mirella Freni, Barbara Bonney, Marilyn Horne, Bruno Pola and Paul Plishka. Conducted by James Levine. From October 10, 1992.

Saturday, October 24: Rossini’s Le Comte Ory

Starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Susanne Resmark, Juan Diego Flórez, Stéphane Degout and Michele Pertusi. Conducted by Maurizio Benini. Transmitted live on April 9, 2011.

Sunday, October 25: Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier

Starring Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Erin Morley, Matthew Polenzani, Marcus Brück and Günther Groissböck. Conducted by Sebastian Weigle. Transmitted live on May 13, 2017.