A NIGHT at the opera is still on the cards despite lock down.

During this extraordinary and difficult time, the New York's prestigious the Metropolitan Opera is hoping to brighten the lives of of opera lovers even while their stage is dark.

Each day, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming on the Met website, include outstanding complete performances from the past 14 years of cinema transmissions.

Each stream becomes available at 12.30am GMT, until 11.30pm the following day.

From tonight, Wednesday, May 6viewers have 23 hours to stream Thomas' Hamlet, followed by Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin on Thursday 7, Strauss’ Capriccio on Friday 8 and on Saturday 9, a Viewers’ Choice selection will feature Puccini’s La Bohème.

On Sunday 10 there will be a screening of 2017 feature-length documentary The Opera House by Susan Froemke, about the creation and 1966 opening of the new Met at the Lincoln Center.

On Monday 11, the opera will resume with Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci Cavalleria Rusticana.

The streams are also available through the Met Opera on Demand apps for Apple, Amazon, and Roku devices and Samsung Smart TV.

To access them without logging in, click “Browse and Preview” in the apps for connected TV, and 'Explore the App' on tablets and mobile devices.