Met moves its HD performances online

The Metropolitan Opera of New York is beginninga subscription service that will make audio recordings and its high-definition videos available online.

Beginning this October, it will have 120 audio recordings and 50 opera videos for sale in its new Met Player service.

Among the operas on offer a 1977 production of La Bohme with Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo's 1995 Otello and La Forza del Destino with Leontyne Price from 1984.

Many of the recent high-definition broadcasts, which were simulcast in cinemas, will be available, as well asback catalogue works such as Leontyne Price's 1985 Aida and The Queen of Spades with Galina Gorchakova.

Met Player, essentially a piece of software that the user must install, has features that allows video to be moved from a computer onto an HD player.

Subscription fees are $14.99 US per month or $149.99a year, and there is an additional charge for each video or audio downloaded.

The New York opera company plans to offer new archival broadcasts and HD productions each month.