The New York Times got an early peek at the Metropolitan Opera's new HD video on-demand streaming website, set to launch October 22, and came away with a few complaints. While the sound was described as clear and rich, accompanying sharp video, browser glitches and the need to download an add-on for the Move Networks based player made for a clumsy experience. If a $15 subscription month long subscription is too much, individual operas are available for $3.99 to $4.99 with 13 high definition performances available initially. Being this close to the launch makes us think back 125 years ago when you had to actually go to the Met to see an Opera or the old days of 2007, when you had to put on pants and leave the house to get a high definition show. The future, is now.

Let's say you're interested in checking out a HD performance of the Metropolitan Opera, but the idea of getting your entertainment on someone else's schedule doesn't agree with your PVR-placeshifted-virtual community sensibilities. No problem -- beginning on October 22, the Met is bringing 170 performances -- 120 audio-only, 50 with video -- including recent HD simulcast shows (promised to be in web-quality HD) to your browser. This will be a subscription service, to the tune of $15 per month, or $150 for the whole year. Having to install a dedicated Move Networks player to keep everything on the up-and-up is a niggle, but if there aren't participating theaters or PBS affiliates in your area, it's worth checking out.

[Via press]

We suspect that there aren't many occasions at the Metropolitan Opera that call for the term "hat trick," but the Met is kicking off its third season of simulcasting performances in HD this Monday. It's been a great ride for the Met: seasons one and two saw the audience swell from 325,000 to 935,000, with distribution increasing from seven to 17 countries. And season three has no plans on slowing down -- with almost the full Met season in the lineup, projections are set for 1.2 million viewers in 30 countries across 850 movie theaters. With the uneasy economic times here in the US, this is a great way to check out first rate performances with picture and sound quality to match without breaking the bank, so keep your eyes open.

Poised to take advantage of the dearth of classical music television stations in the U.S., Unitel Classica is planning a worldwide classical channel formatted for HDTV. The German production company already supplies HD concerts via satellite in Europe on SES Astra, and the Classica standard definition opera and classical channel in several countries. The new channel will launch in Germany first in the fourth quarter, before potentially making the jump over here. With that much experience behind them, and the enthusiastic response to opera and classical broadcasts already available, Unitel should be ready to give the classical fans what they've been waiting for sometime in 2009.

Apparently the Met isn't the only one focused on spoiling opera viewers remotely, broadcast company Arqiva is delivering live HD feeds of opera from Italy and Spain via its satellite network. Working with DDCinema, it delivered its last broadcast of Samson and Delilah from the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Italy to nearly 70 theaters across Europe. If any of Engadget HD's European opera fans missed out, don't worry, they plan at least three more tests this year. As long as they don't try to skimp on the HD and Dolby 5.1 Surround audio, we expect the results will be just fine.

In the same way that HD has spoiled sports and nature fans with its eye-popping visuals, it has expanded its domain to the opera world. According to the NY Times, the Met's eight broadcasts last season pulled in 908,000 viewers. Further, the number of people who took in these broadcast performances outnumbered the Metropolitan Opera House attendees by 58,000 over the same time period. These are great numbers for the highbrow fare, but what's really telling is the comparative turnout netted by the lower quality broadcast used by the San Francisco Opera. The author of the linked article reports the San Francisco Opera's efforts have enjoyed much less success, and points to a turnout of four at the local screening of "Madama Butterfly" as evidence. Broadcast opera seems like it's here to stay, and HD looks to be a component crucial to success. Bravo!

If you think it's tough sticking to an exclusive diet of HD content, try being a fan of opera (the genre, not the browser, silly). Not many towns can even consider supporting an opera company, and scheduling and pricing cuts out another swath of interested folks in markets that do have an opera company. The Metropolitan Opera company has enjoyed success showing HD productions of its performances in theaters worldwide, and is now branching out to even more markets with PBS. The performances will appear underneath the "Great Performances" banner, so check your local listings if you're interested. We promise we won't tell your sports-fanatic crew you broke out the wine and cheese and peeped some opera!

Everyone with a projection system knows it all too well -- your bulb will choose to make its exit from the world of functional gadgets when you have a bunch of friends over to show off your HD rig. Take heart, it happens to the best of them: the second season premiere of The Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" in West Des Moines was struck down by Murphy's Law this past weekend. Part way through the showing of "Romeo et Juliet" a bulb burned out on the star-crossed lovers, leaving only the soundtrack (accompanied by a grumbling audience). Luckily, the broadcast was being taped, so the theater was able to show the production in its entirety after the bulb was replaced. Word to the wise -- keep a spare bulb handy for mission critical viewing!

Apparently, the first season of Metropolitan Opera: Live in High Definition went over quite well, as the second season looks to hit even more venues and capture the hearts of more individuals in 2007 - 2008. Reportedly, the season gets started on December 15th with a live opera transmission of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, which will be the first of eight total broadcasts. Other features include Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Verdi's Macbeth, Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Britten's Peter Grimes and Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment. Over 600 venues in North America, Australia, Europe and Japan will be participating in the Met's upcoming series, and if all goes to plan, over one million people will be picking up tickets. Speaking of which, be sure to hit the read link for more detailed information on ticket prices, venues and schedules, and do be sure to let us know how things turn out if you take in a show or two.

These days, it's not often that a CD player makes you take a second glance, but Opera Audio's Forbidden City Ping is just one of those devices. The interestingly-styled box consists of a Linear Concept CD player meshed with a 100-watt Class A amplifier, AM / FM tuner, and a USB port for streaming tunes in from your PC. The "three-in-one" audio system also sports a 16-bit TDA1543 DAC and the ability to recover the current time from the USB port to display on the front-panel LCD. The Ping comes in black with your choice of red or silver accent plates, and while we're not sure of the asking price just yet, we'll go ahead and assume that this thing is more suited for the affluent set judging by the company's reputation.

[Via AudioJunkies]

Just a quick, little update here. Apparently people do not mind missing the live performance aspect of an Opera like the San Francisco Opera theorized a couple of years ago. [Original post here] The New York Metropolitan Opera has been filling more then 20,000 - 30,000 movie theater seats countrywide as they stream their musical experiences, in high-def of course, to these 40 foot screens. These programs are only available in select markets of course so check with your local cinema to see if they are offering a fat lady singing in HD.

What we're watching: NBA, NBA, NBA. The Western Conference stars continue to shine tonight with Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant all showing out in a doubleheader on ESPN. If you like your round balls slightly smaller size, theres always MLB action on INHD as the Rockies face the Padres at 10 p.m.

Of course if the dramatics of basketball players arguing foul calls and major league managers arguing foul balls just aren't enough, please consider Discovery-HD's offering of Puccini's Tosca, "a fiery Roman melodrama of lust, betrayal and revenge". Sounds like the Lakers to me.


Our traditional high-def listings continue below.

I can't say that I've been to see an opera performance; not because I'm afraid to publicly admit it, I've just never had the opportunity. If the San Francisco Opera has anything to do about it, that may change. Towards the very bottom of San Fran's 2006 season announcement, this tasty tidbit crossed our path: the Opera house is hoping to set up a high-def studio for spreading the song word.

Has anyone seen an opera and if so, would you expect it to transfer to well to a high-def video presentation or is there a "live" factor that would be missed?

So the big tech news today will likely be around Microsoft's alleged purchase of Opera, the first tabbed web browser that runs on just about every platform on the planet. So why do us TV junkies care? We care because everyone will likely overlook "Opera for Home Media". They shouldn't. Microsoft continues to join us in our home entertainment rooms with WMCE, Xboxes and Windows Media Connect. Did you forget about good old WebTV?

The way we see it, the computer is already becoming an integral part of your home entertainment space. If it hasn't yet, don't fight it because it will. Once it does, think about watching your HDTV over IP when a show host polls the broadband audience. Sure we can do that today, but you generally have to run to your notebook or desktop and then vote. Once the browser is embedded into the experience however, that makes life much simpler and the experience much richer. Think about a Voice-Enabled Electronic Program Guide for starters. Opera already has it, and now Microsoft will too.

Windows Media Center can already bring you your HDTV, either directly or indirectly through a Windows Media Extender. Let's face it: do you really want to see Internet Explorer integrated in to that gorgeous high-def set? Perhaps IE in your PIP? We didn't think so.