Live from the Metropolitan Opera (alternate title: Live from the Met) was an American television program that presented performances of complete operas from the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television network. The program began in 1977, and was telecast live for its first few seasons. The first telecast, La Bohème, featured Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo and Renata Scotto as Mimi, with James Levine conducting; all three were interviewed during the intermission. Some of the celebrated opera singers featured on Live from the Met have included Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, Samuel Ramey, Renée Fleming, Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Renata Scotto, Leontyne Price, and Sherrill Milnes. During its live broadcasts, the program featured lengthy interviews and features on opera topics during the intermissions. These segments were often up to a half-hour in length themselves.

In 1988, the program title was changed to The Metropolitan Opera Presents, to reflect the fact that the performances were now taped prior to broadcast.^[1] Live from the Met functioned as a supplement to the regular Saturday Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.^[2] During its first fifteen years, the program was frequently simulcast, enabling some audiences to hear the opera in stereo via radio as well. The program was replaced on PBS in 2007 by a new series, Great Performances at the Met.

Hosts of the program included Tony Randall, Beverly Sills, Speight Jenkins,^[3] Alexander Scourby,^[4] and Garrick Utley. The announcer was Peter Allen.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Live from the Metropolitan Opera at the Internet Movie Database