Live from the Met

James Levine leads a remarkable cast in one of Verdi’s most enduringly popular operas and brings fresh insights to this beloved score. Ileana Cotrubas is poignant and touching as Violetta, the consumptive courtesan who finds true love with Alfredo, sung with style and passion by the great Plácido Domingo. Cornell MacNeil is Germont, Alfredo’s father, who forces the two apart, setting in motion events that lead to a shattering and tragic conclusion. Colin Graham’s production features design by Tanya Moiseiwitsch and choreography by Zachary Solov. Performance date: March 28, 1981.

A trio of operas in three short stories - the first a gruesome murder melodrama, the second is a passionate tearjerker, and the third is a dark comedy of death and an inheritance. Each story is strikingly different from the preceding one.

Luciano Pavarotti is the elegant, reckless Duke of Mantua whose betrayal of the innocent Gilda (Christiane Eda-Pierre) leads to a tragic ending. Louis Quilico plays Rigoletto, the court jester and Gilda’s father, who has dedicated his life to keeping his daughter away from the Duke—only to have her sacrifice her own life for the villainous nobleman. James Levine’s conducting brings out the scorching drama in Verdi’s unforgettable score. Performance date: December 15, 1981.

Franco Zeffirelli’s sensational production of Puccini’s haunting opera of young love is one of the great classics in the history of the Met. Many great singers have appeared in it over the years, but there is something especially endearing about this magical first cast: the touching and fragile Teresa Stratas as the dying Mimi, and young, handsome Jose Carreras as her passionate lover, Rodolfo. A flamboyant Renata Scotto is the irrepressible Musetta. James Levine conducts with his special combination of sensitivity and verve. Performance date: January 16, 1982.