Live from the Met

All the humor of Boito’s libretto (taken from Shakespeare) is superbly brought to life by a cast of great singing actors in Franco Zeffirelli's classic production. Paul Plishka is the lecherous, aging, fat knight Falstaff. Marilyn Horne’s delicious Dame Quickly gets the best of him, with some help from Mirella Freni (Alice Ford) and Susan Graham (Meg Page)—both at the top of their game. An adorable Barbara Bonney and ardent Frank Lopardo are the young lovers. James Levine’s deft conducting brings out all the nuance of the quicksilver score. Performance date: October 10, 1992.

James Levine conducts a brilliant cast in this sweeping performance of Verdi’s rarely heard opera, led by Plácido Domingo in the title role of a Protestant minister. Sharon Sweet is his wife, Lina, who has been lured into adultery, leaving Stiffelio caught between his desire for revenge and his religion’s admonition to forgive. This Giancarlo Del Monaco production also stars Vladimir Chernov as Stankar, Lina’s father, Peter Riberi as her lover, Raffaele, and Paul Plishka as Jorg. Performance date: November 13, 1993.

ames Levine’s love for this seldom-heard score infuses every measure of Verdi’s music. Superstar Luciano Pavarotti heads the cast as the Muslim warrior prince Oronte who converts to Christianity out of love for the Italian Giselda (Lauren Flanigan)—before dying of the wounds he received in battling the Crusaders. Samuel Ramey is the Crusader-turned-hermit Pagano. Mark Lamos’s striking production has sets by John Conklin and costumes by Dunya Ramicova. Performance date: December 21, 1993.