Tenor Placido Domingo performs the title role of Tan Dun's The First Emperor in December 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

Six high-definition Metropolitan Opera productions that first aired live in cinemas are to be released on DVD this September.

The 2006 world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor and five productions from the 2007-8 season, including Peter Grimes and Manon Lescaut, are to be made available Sept. 16 in Canada, according to a statement from EMI Classics released Wednesday.

While many performances by the New York-based opera have been released on DVD, including several from a former PBS series, this is the first of the HD series to be made available.

The Met's bold experiment with broadcasting its operas directly to cinemas across North America is considered a huge success and has been credited with developing new audiences for the art form.

In the 2007-8 season, 11 performances will be broadcast live in HD to Canadian cinemas.

The Met struck a deal with EMI in April 2007 to release the six operas. They are:

• Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel: a new English-language translation of the fairy story, produced by Richard Jones, with Philip Langridge playing the witch.
• Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth: the first Met production of the Shakespearean story in 20 years, starring Zeljko Lucic, Maria Guleghina, John Relyea and Dimitri Pittas.
• Tan Dun: The First Emperor: tenor Placido Domingo plays the emperor in the new opera which was conducted by composer.
• Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut: with Finnish soprano Karita Mattila in the title role, conducted by James Levine.
• Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes: with Anthony Dean Griffey in the title role.
• Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème: the classic love story starred Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas.

The DVDs include backstage interviews with opera stars, directors, conductors and designers.