Wagner Week at the Met – October 5-12, 2020 Online

Nightly Met Opera Streams presents a week of Wagner

Each day, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming on the Met website, with each performance available for a period of 23 hours, from 7:30 pm EDT until 6:30 pm the following day. The schedule will include outstanding complete performances from the past 14 years of cinema transmissions, starring all of opera’s greatest singers.

Monday, October 5, 2020
Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
Starring Nina Stemme, Ekaterina Gubanova, Stuart Skelton, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. From October 8, 2016.

Met audiences were fascinated by Mariusz Treliński’s gripping, visionary production of Wagner’s epic opera. In the daunting title roles of the doomed lovers, Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton are passionate, overwhelming, and heartbreaking as they battle every obstacle that separates them from their true destiny. René Pape is King Marke, betrayed not only by Isolde but by Tristan, the man he most trusts and loves like a son. With Ekaterina Gubanova as Isolde’s confidante Brangäne and Evgeny Nikitin as Kurwenal, Tristan’s loyal lieutenant. Simon Rattle conducts a surging, shimmering account of Wagner’s monumental score.

Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Wagner’s Tannhäuser
Starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Michelle DeYoung, Johan Botha, Peter Mattei, and Günther Groissböck, conducted by James Levine. From October 31, 2015.

Met Music Director James Levine leads this Live in HD presentation of Wagner’s early Romantic opera, starring Johan Botha in the title role of the minnesinger torn between earthly passion and true love. Eva-Maria Westbroek is Elisabeth, whose unswerving devotion redeems Tannhäuser’s soul, and Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, his faithful friend. Michelle DeYoung as the love goddess Venus and Günther Groissböck as Landgraf Hermann complete the cast. Otto Schenk’s classic production was the first of his acclaimed Wagner stagings at the Met.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Wagner’s Das Rheingold
Starring Christa Ludwig, Siegfried Jerusalem, James Morris, and Ekkehard Wlaschiha, conducted by James Levine. From April 23, 1990.

From the gorgeous scene deep in the river Rhine that opens the opera, up to the magic Rainbow Bridge that appears at the end, leading to a glistening Valhalla, Otto Schenk’s production captures the scenic world of Wagner’s Ring as brilliantly as James Levine and the Met orchestra capture the musical world. The cast is incomporable: an astounding James Morris as the young god Wotan, the great Christa Ludwig as his wife Fricka, incandescent Siegfried Jerusalem as Loge, the wily god of fire, and Ekkehard Wlaschiha as a complex Alberich.

Thursday, October 8, 2020
Wagner’s Die Walküre
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, and Kurt Moll, conducted by James Levine. From April 8, 1989.

The gorgeous and evocative Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production continues with this second opera in Wagner’s Ring cycle. Hildegard Behrens brings deep empathy to Brünnhilde, the favorite daughter of the god Wotan (James Morris) who nevertheless defies him. Morris’s portrayal of Wotan is deservedly legendary, as is Christa Ludwig, as Fricka. Jessye Norman and Gary Lakes are Sieglinde and Siegmund, and Kurt Moll is the threatening Hunding. James Levine and the Met orchestra provide astonishing color and drama.

Friday, October 9, 2020
Wagner’s Siegfried
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Siegfried Jerusalem, and James Morris, conducted by James Levine; From April 26, 1990

Siegfried’s magical world is brilliantly evoked in this Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production. Our storybook hero (Siegfried Jerusalem) forges his sword, uses it to kill the dragon (marvelous Matti Salminen as Fafner), discovers treasure, and awakens the sleeping Brünnhilde (a powerful Hildegard Behrens), oblivious to the ring of fire that has been protecting her. James Morris, in sumptuous voice, is deeply moving as the Wanderer, the god who cannot stop Siegfried’s destiny.This is James Levine and the Met orchestra at their very best.

Saturday, October 10, 2020
Wagner’s Götterdämmerung
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Christa Ludwig, Siegfried Jerusalem, and Matti Salminen, conducted by James Levine. From May 5, 1990.

The stupendous climax to Wagner’s four-part Ring cycle is brilliantly realized by the Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production and byJames Levine’s monumental conducting. The Met orchestra, chorus, and an all-star cast make this Götterdämmerung one that truly rises to the occasion. Hildegard Behrens’s Brünnhilde must be experienced to be believed, as does Matti Salminen’s richly sung, domineering Hagen. At the center of the drama is Siegfried Jerusalem as Siegfried, who does not realize he has been drawn into a plot of betrayal until it is too late. Christa Ludwig is magnetic as Waltraute and Ekkehard Wlaschiha is a compelling Alberich.

Sunday, October 11, 2020
Wagner’s Parsifal
Starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape, conducted by Daniele Gatti. From March 2, 2013.

The Met assembled an ideal cast for François Girard’s acclaimed new production of Wagner’s final masterpiece. Jonas Kaufmann in the title role of the fool “made wise by compassion” is as convincing vocally as he is haunting dramatically, delivering a thoroughly moving portrayal. René Pape is equally compelling as Gurnemanz, the veteran Knight of the Grail, and Katarina Dalayman thrillingly brings out the dual sides of Kundry. Peter Mattei is Amfortas, the anguished ruler of the Grail’s kingdom, and Evgeny Nikitin sings the evil magician Klingsor. Daniele Gatti on the podium reveals both the serenity and dramatic tension of what may be Wagner’s greatest score.

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