The Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera house at Lincoln Square in Manhattan's Upper West Side. The white travertine facade shows five tall concrete arches, behind which stretches an auditorium with around 3850 seats.

The current building opened in 1966 at Lincoln Center after the original venue from 1883 at Broadway and 39th Street was abandoned. The move happened as part of an urban renewal that brought several cultural institutions under a shared roof.

The opera house takes its name from the organization that runs it and serves today as a central venue for classical music theater in New York. Visitors experience performances with internationally known singers and orchestras valued for their interpretation of operatic repertoire spanning several centuries.

Performances take place on weekday evenings and weekend afternoons, with doors generally opening around half an hour before the start. The entrance hall with its chandeliers offers orientation, while the auditorium spreads across several levels.

Two large murals by Marc Chagall flank the front lobby and show scenes from the opera world in bright colors. Several crystal chandeliers of Austrian origin illuminate both the entrance hall and main auditorium and are slowly dimmed before each performance.

Location: Manhattan

Inception: 1880

Address: 30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, New York, 10023-6980

Phone: +12123626000

Email: MetropolitanOpera@metopera.org

Website: https://metopera.org

GPS coordinates: 40.77278,-73.98417

Latest update: December 12, 2025 21:47