{{Short description|American television series (1977–2003)}} {{Distinguish|Metropolitan Opera Live in HD}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox television | image = LIVEFROMTHEMET1985-TITLESCREEN.png | image_upright = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = Title screen of ''Live from the Met''<br/>(January 5, 1985) | alt_name = {{Plainlist| * Live from the Met {{noitalic|(1977–1987)}} * The Metropolitan Opera Presents {{noitalic|(1988–2003)}} }} | presenter = Peter Allen (narrator)<br> Tony Randall, Speight Jenkins, Alexander Scourby, Joanne Woodward, F. Murray Abraham, or Garrick Utley (various hosts) | country = United States | language = English | company = Metropolitan Opera<br>WNET | budget = | num_seasons = 27 | num_episodes = 95 | network = PBS | released = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | first_aired = {{Start date|1977|3|15}} | last_aired = {{End date|2003|5|18}} | related = <!-- To be used only for remakes, spin-offs, and adaptations --> }} '''''Live from the Metropolitan Opera''''' (also known as '''''Live from the Met''''' and '''''The Metropolitan Opera Presents''''') is an American television program that presents performances of complete operas from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network.
The program began on March 15, 1977 and was telecast live for its first few seasons. The first telecast, Giacomo Puccini's ''La Bohème'', features Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo and Renata Scotto as Mimì, with James Levine conducting (all three were interviewed during intermission), and Tony Randall as the host.
Celebrated singers featured on ''Live from the Met'' include Plácido Domingo (who performed in ''Manon Lescaut'', ''Turandot'', ''Tosca'', ''Francesca da Rimini'', and others), Luciano Pavarotti (in ''La Boheme'', ''L'Elisir d'Amore'', ''Ernani'', ''Idomeneo'', and others), Renata Scotto (in ''Manon Lescaut'', ''Francesca da Rimini'', and ''Il Trittico''), Leontyne Price (in ''Aida'' and ''La Forza del Destino''), Jose Carreras (in ''La Boheme'' and Bizet's ''Carmen''), Kiri Te Kanawa in Richard Strauss' ''Arabella'' and also Johann Strauss II's ''Die Fledermaus'', Samuel Ramey (in ''Carmen'' and others), Eva Marton (in ''Turandot'' and others), Leona Mitchell (in ''Ernani'', ''Carmen'', ''Turandot''), Kathleen Battle (in ''Le Nozze di Figaro'', '' L'Elisir d'Amore'' and others), Beverly Sills, Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes, and Renee Fleming.
Conductors who were featured alongside Levine were: Jeffrey Tate, Nicola Rescigno, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Christian Thielemann, Thomas Fulton, and Charles Dutoit. During the intermissions of its live broadcasts, the program offered interviews and other features on opera topics; these segments were often up to a half-hour.
During the first few years, when the various operatic performances were distributed on video cassette and even Laserdisc, Pioneer Corporation helped sponsor the program, alongside long-time sponsors: The National Endowment for the Arts, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Texaco.
Giuseppe Verdi and his operas were the most frequently performed on the program, with his creations ''Aida'', ''Don Carlo'', ''Rigoletto'', ''Simon Boccanegra'', and ''Un Ballo in Maschera'' being performed in two performances a piece, while ''Otello'' and even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' were performed thrice (albeit seasons apart). In contrast, Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'', Giacomo Puccini's ''La Boheme'', ''Il Tabbaro'', and ''Tosca'', Richard Strauss' ''Elektra'', Mozart's ''Le Nozze di Figaro'', and Gaetano Donizetti's ''L'Elisir d'Amore'' were performed seasons apart on two occasions a piece.
''Live from the Met'' functioned as a supplement to the company's regular Saturday Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.<ref>{{cite news | last=Rockwell | first=John | author-link=John Rockwell | title=The Met on Radio And Its Impact On American Taste | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED61730F935A15752C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | newspaper=The New York Times | date=26 November 1989 | access-date=2008-02-16}}</ref> During its first fifteen years the program was frequently simulcast, enabling some audiences to hear the opera in stereo via radio as well. Hosts included Tony Randall, Speight Jenkins,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020901/speight01/speight-jenkins-my-ultimate-summer-concert- | newspaper=The Seattle Times | title=Speight Jenkins: My ultimate summer concert | date=1 September 2002}}</ref> Alexander Scourby,<ref>{{cite news | last=Saxon | first=Wolfgang | title=Alexander Scourby, 71, Dies; Actor Famous for His Voice | url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20B1FF7395D0C778EDDAB0894DD484D81&scp=50&sq=%22 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=24 February 1985 | access-date=2008-02-16}}</ref> Joanne Woodward, F. Murray Abraham, and Garrick Utley. The announcer was Peter Allen.
From the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, there were specials focusing on the Metropolitan Opera House, recitals with Joan Sutherland and Pavarotti, and also other recitals with other notable performers, the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera, James Levine's 25th anniversary at The Met, and also Pavarotti's 30th Anniversary at The Met.
The 1982 production of ''La Boheme'' with Carreras and Scotto, along with the 1985 production of ''Tosca'' with Domingo, and the 1990 production of ''Aida'', won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special.
In 1988, with the presentation of ''Turandot'', the program title was changed to '''''The Metropolitan Opera Presents''''' to reflect the fact that the performances were now taped prior to broadcast.<ref>{{cite news | last=O'Connor | first=John J. | title=TV Review; The Met Opera's ''Tales of Hoffmann'' | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DB1F3FF931A35750C0A96E948260&scp=66&sq=%22 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=2 March 1988 | access-date=2008-02-16}}</ref>
''The Metropolitan Opera Presents'' ended its 26-year run in 2003, and was replaced on PBS in 2007 by '''''Great Performances at the Met'''''. Operas aired in this series are repeats of the performances presented live on video in movie theaters in the Met's "Live in HD" series. Not all PBS affiliate stations may carry the program.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title}}
{{EmmyAward VarietySpecial (Live)}} {{PBSTV}}
Category:1977 American television series debuts Category:2003 American television series endings Category:1970s American music television series Category:1980s American music television series Category:1990s American music television series Category:2000s American music television series Category:American live television series Category:Metropolitan Opera Category:PBS original programming Category:Television shows filmed in New York City