Free opera -- for those who don’t mind watching it on a computer screen

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Don’t feel like spending $11.50 to see ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ this weekend? How about staying in and watching Luciano Pavarotti in Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ on your computer screen for free?

This weekend, the Metropolitan Opera is offering free and unlimited access to Met Player, its recently launched online service that provides full-length video and audio selections from the company’s archives.

Normally, Met Player offers free trials to a restricted portion of its offerings. This weekend’s trial allows fans to run wild through the entirety of its collections.

Of course, you’ll have to go through an elaborate sign-up process so the Met can capture your demographic information for marketing purposes. But it seems like a small price to pay for access to some rare operatic productions.

Among the classic videos available for viewing: Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’ with Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti (1977); Plácido Domingo in Verdi’s ‘Otello’ (1995); and Verdi’s ‘La Forza del Destino’ with Leontyne Price (1984). There are also HD videos from recent seasons available for viewing.

On the audio-only side, the Met’s offerings date all the way back to 1937.

So knock yourselves out, opera fans. The free preview runs through midnight EST (9 p.m. PST) on Sunday, May 3.

-- David Ng