Live from the Met

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Live from the Met is an American television program that presents 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 Rudolfo and Renata Scotto as Mimi, with James Levine conducting. All three performers were interviewed during the intermission. The celebrated opera singers who have been 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 first few years, the program featured interviews and essays on operas during the intermissions, which often lasted nearly half-an-hour in themselves.

In the 1980s, the program title was changed to The Metropolitan Opera Presents, to accommodate the fact that the television broadcasts were no longer automatically given live, in real time.^[1] Live from the Met has acted as a supplement to the Metropolitan Opera's regular radio broadcasts.^[2] During its first fifteen years, the program was frequently simulcast, enabling the audience to tune in via radio as well. The program still airs from time to time on PBS.

Hosts of the program have included Alexander Scourby^[3] and Garrick Utley.