During these days of sticking closer to home, we’ll be covering virtual events — entertainment and leisure options that you can pursue for free or cheap over the internet.
If content about virtual events is helpful to you, please leave a comment below or email us and let us know. We’re trying to adapt to the new reality, the same as you are.
Let’s start with the The Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
While it is closed to the public, it will offer nightly streams of encore presentations from its Live in HD series. These are shows that were originally transmitted as the cast performed live. Many were transmitted to movie theatres, where opera fans paid for tickets to watch this acclaimed opera company perform in NYC.
The streams began on Monday, March 16th, 2020. Each opera begin at 7:30 p.m.
To get sub-titles in English: When you watch the live stream, you can click on the small box at the bottom right that is labeled “CC” and this will provide captions for you.
You may also be interested in:
- 12+ FREE streaming services for movies, TV shows, sports, and audio books
- 9 meal prep kit delivery services with intro offers up to 60% off
- Virtual events for kids: puppet shows, story times, zoo safaris, and more
- 6 tips for telecommuting if you’re not used to working from home
- Need to send a gift? Check out these deals on flowers, gift baskets, and more
If you’ve been curious about opera, now is your big chance to check it out! Keep an open mind, because it is a very different form of storytelling from what you may be used to.
To watch, just open a browser on your preferred device and navigate to the Met’s home page at metopera.org — the homepage link will open the performance on the the Met Opera on Demand streaming service.
If you can’t watch in real time, you can watch later. Each performance will be available on metopera.org for 20 hours — which means till 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time the next day.
If you happen to use a Met Opera on Demand app, it will be available there too.
If you’re seeing a particular opera for the first time, we recommend googling the title and reading up on the plot and storyline. Trust us, it makes the experience a lot more enjoyable when you’re in the know.
From the press release:
“We’d like to provide some grand opera solace to opera lovers in these extraordinarily difficult times,” said Met General Manager Peter Gelb. “Every night, we’ll be offering a different complete operatic gem from our collection of HD presentations from the past 14 years.”
Photo above: Classical opera “The Barber of Seville” performed by members of the Dnipro Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Metropolitan Opera streaming schedule
We update this listing each week, usually on Fridays.
Friday, April 3
Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles
Starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, and Mariusz Kwiecien, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
From January 16, 2016.
Saturday, April 4
Verdi’s Macbeth
Starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Željko Lučić, and René Pape, conducted by Fabio Luisi.
From October 11, 2014.
Sunday, April 5
Bellini’s Norma
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
From October 7, 2017.
Sunday, April 5
Bellini’s Norma
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
From October 7, 2017.
Monday, April 6
Verdi’s Aida
Starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, Quinn Kelsey, Dmitry Belosselskiy, and Ryan Speedo Green, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.
From October 6, 2018.
Tuesday, April 7
Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West
Starring Deborah Voigt, Marcello Giordani, and Lucio Gallo, conducted by Nicola Luisotti.
From January 8, 2011.
Wednesday, April 8
Verdi’s Falstaff
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine.
From December 14, 2013.
Thursday, April 9
Wagner’s Parsifal
Starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape, conducted by Daniele Gatti.
From March 2, 2013.
Friday, April 10
Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
Starring Diana Damrau, Vittorio Grigolo, Elliot Madore, and Mikhail Petrenko, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
From January 21, 2017.
Saturday, April 11
Donizetti’s Don Pasquale
Starring Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, and John Del Carlo, conducted by James Levine.
From November 13, 2010.
Want to support Atlanta on the Cheap?
Now you can make a small donation through BuyMeACoffee!
Even $5 helps keep us up and running.
Thanks for the feedback! We’re working on new content now!
Thanks so much for this. Keep them coming so we can keep enjoying atlanta while staying safe!!!
Have you participated in any of the live streams yet? We’re curious to hear how they are!
Loving the live stream ideas