A Spot of Culture from the New York Met

Hi everyone,

The longer this goes on, the harder it becomes to keep your spirits up all the time and this is where a spot of culture comes in. Most of the people I've mentioned before are still putting shows on that we can watch online or via our TV if it's a smart TV or you have Amazon Fire.

I know how much it's meant to me to watch a play or an opera or see a musical or a show of some kind, a ballet maybe. When I see the beauty that humankind is capable of creating, it lifts me a bit while we're all waiting to be able to get out and about safely and see people again.

Here's this week's programme from the New York Metropolitan Opera, which you can see free from their website or in my case from Amazon Fire TV on my tellybox using the Met's downloadable app! Each day’s programme begins at 0030 UK time on the following day e.g. “Nabucco” begins at 0030 BST on Monday BST, and they run until something like 2300 BST before the next one is loaded.

There is also a bunch of supplementary material like synopses of the plot and programme details available at the website. The Met really rocks. I'm not seeing and hearing as many as one a week, but the ones I'm seeing are really something else with world stars at the top of their game. If you were ever going to watch an opera, now is the time!

Sunday, May 17 Verdi’s Nabucco

Starring Liudmyla Monastyrska, Jamie Barton, Russell Thomas, Plácido Domingo, and Dmitry Belosselskiy, conducted by James Levine. From January 7, 2017.

Monday, May 18 Mozart’s Idomeneo

Starring Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, Alice Coote, and Matthew Polenzani, conducted by James Levine. From March 25, 2017.

Tuesday, May 19 Wagner’s Lohengrin

Starring Eva Marton, Leonie Rysanek, Peter Hofmann, Leif Roar, and John Macurdy, conducted by James Levine. From January 10, 1986.

Wednesday, May 20 Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera

Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Kathleen Kim, Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From December 8, 2012.

Thursday, May 21 Puccini’s Turandot

Starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov, and James Morris, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From October 12, 2019.

Friday, May 22 Mozart’s Don Giovanni

Starring Joan Sutherland, James Morris, and Gabriel Bacquier, conducted by Richard Bonynge. From March 16, 1978.

Saturday, May 23 Gounod’s Faust

Starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, and René Pape, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From December 10, 2011.

Sunday, May 24 Massenet’s Manon

Starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Paulo Szot, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 7, 2012.