Metropolitan Opera, After Shutting Its Doors, Will Offer Free Streams From Live in HD Catalog

The New York institution is one of several in the city—Broadway included—to cancel performances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although the Metropolitan Opera has brought down the curtain at least through the end of the month over COVID-19 concerns, the New York City institution will offer another way for audiences to take in its performances.

Beginning March 16, the Met will stream a title from its Live in HD series each night through the duration of the closure. The performances, originally captured as live broadcasts in movie theatres worldwide, will begin at 7:30 PM from the company's homepage. (The featured performances—and several others—are available via the Met Opera on Demand subscription service, though the videos in the nightly series will be made available for free for 20 hours following the initial stream).

The move is among many similar decisions from performing arts organizations across the country, who have canceled performances due to mass gathering restrictions as an effort to curb the spread of the disease. Broadway shows will go dark through April 12; Carnegie Hall has scrapped all remaining March events; Off-Broadway and regional theatres across the country have postponed the remainders of their seasons. With no stage, performers and performing arts companies have taken to the internet to offer alternative experiences, from online concert series to group gaming sessions.

READ: Broadway Goes Dark Amid Coronavirus Concerns

See below for the schedule of the Met's first week of streams.

March 16: Bizet’s Carmen

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Elīna Garanča and Roberto Alagna. (Originally broadcast January 16, 2010.)

March 17: Puccini’s La Bohème

Conducted by Nicola Luisotti, starring Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas. (Originally broadcast April 5, 2008.)

March 18: Verdi’s Il Trovatore

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. (Originally broadcast October 3, 2015.)

March 19: Verdi’s La Traviata

Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez, and Quinn Kelsey. (Originally broadcast December 15, 2018.)

March 20: Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez. (Originally broadcast April 26, 2008.)

March 21: Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor

Conducted by Marco Armiliato, starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Mariusz Kwiecien. (Originally broadcast February 7, 2009.)