Live from the Met

Verdi’s beloved opera overflows with marvelous arias, ensembles, and choruses—all superbly sung by this all-star cast, under the direction of James Levine. Aprile Millo (Leonore) is in love with the mysterious troubadour Manrico (Luciano Pavarotti) but the nefarious Count Di Luna (Sherrill Milnes) wants her for himself. Add to the roiling drama the mysterious old gypsy Azucena (the intense Fiorenza Cossotto in her final Met performance), and it’s a situation that is disastrous for the characters—though it inspired some of the best-known music in all of Italian opera. Performance date: January 21, 1989.

A golden-voiced Plácido Domingo is Radamès, victorious leader of the triumphant Egyptian army in this memorable broadcast. He can have anything in the world he wants—except the woman he loves, the slave Aida (Aprile Millo). The King bestows his own daughter, Amneris (Stefania Toczyska), on Radamès—which is fine with her, until she discovers he would rather die with Aida than rule Egypt with her. Sherrill Milnes is Amonasro, Aida’s father, who forces her to use Radamès’s love to betray his country. James Levine conducts. Performance date: January 7, 1989.

Part one of the Der Ring des Nibelungen. From the gorgeous scene deep in the river Rhine that opens the opera, up to the magic Rainbow Bridge that appears at the end, leading to a glistening Valhalla, Otto Schenk’s production captures the scenic world of Wagner’s Ring as brilliantly as James Levine and the Met orchestra capture the musical world. The cast is incomporable: an astounding James Morris as the young god Wotan, the great Christa Ludwig as his wife Fricka, incandescent Siegfried Jerusalem as Loge, the wily god of fire, and Ekkehard Wlaschiha as a complex Alberich. Performance date: April 23, 1990.

Part two of the Der Ring des Nibelungen. The gorgeous and evocative Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production continues with this second opera in Wagner’s Ring cycle. Hildegard Behrens brings deep empathy to Brünnhilde, the favorite daughter of the god Wotan (James Morris) who nevertheless defies him. Morris’s portrayal of Wotan is deservedly legendary, as is Christa Ludwig, as Fricka. Jessye Norman and Gary Lakes are Sieglinde and Siegmund, and Kurt Moll is the threatening Hunding. James Levine and the Met orchestra provide astonishing color and drama. Performance date: April 8, 1989.

Part three of the Der Ring des Nibelungen. Siegfried’s magical world is brilliantly evoked in this Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production. Our storybook hero (Siegfried Jerusalem) forges his sword, uses it to kill the dragon (marvelous Matti Salminen as Fafner), discovers treasure, and awakens the sleeping Brünnhilde (a powerful Hildegard Behrens), oblivious to the ring of fire that has been protecting her. James Morris, in sumptuous voice, is deeply moving as the Wanderer, the god who cannot stop Siegfried’s destiny.This is James Levine and the Met orchestra at their very best. Performance date: April 26, 1990.

Part four of the Der Ring des Nibelungen. The stupendous climax to Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle is brilliantly realized by the Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production and byJames Levine’s monumental conducting. The Met orchestra, chorus, and an all-star cast make this Götterdämmerung one that truly rises to the occasion. Hildegard Behrens’s Brünnhilde must be experienced to be believed, as does Matti Salminen’s richly sung, domineering Hagen. At the center of the drama is Siegfried Jerusalem as Siegfried, who does not realize he has been drawn into a plot of betrayal until it is too late. Christa Ludwig is magnetic as Waltraute and Ekkehard Wlaschiha is a compelling Alberich. Performance date: May 5, 1990.