New York Metropolitan Opera hosts starry lockdown gala
Jonas Kaufmann, Anna Netrebko, Bryn Terfel and Renée Fleming join the company’s ambitious pan-continental living-room soiree
Glitzy galas are a regular feature of the opera calendar, but a lockdown gala – with many of the world’s best-known singers performing from their homes – is a first. On Saturday, New York’s Metropolitan Opera will host an online gala featuring 43 of its leading singers live from their homes in 15 countries on three continents.
The gala, streamed free on the Met’s website, will be co-hosted by general manager Peter Gelb from his apartment in New York, and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in Montreal. It begins at 1pm eastern daylight time (6pm BST/7pm central European time) and will last four hours. There’s a brief chance to catch it on demand – the show will be on the Met’s website until 6:30pm (EDT)/1.30am (BST) the following day.