This performance, recorded in the fall of 2017, saw the Met debut of the radiant American soprano Angel Blue and is being featured for the first time in a Saturday matinee broadcast.
Blue starred as the fragile but intensely passionate Mimì, opposite tenor Dmytro Popov as the poet Rodolfo. Soprano Brigitta Kele and baritone Lucas Meachem were the on-again, off-again couple Musetta and Marcello.
Alexander Soddy conducted the Met Orchestra and Chorus in Puccini’s enduring story of youthful love and loss.
La Bohème will be heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 10.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted a cast led by soprano
Renée Fleming who starred in one of her signature roles as Rusalka, the water nymph who longs to become human.
Tenor
Piotr Beczała was the fickle Prince, and mezzo-soprano
Dolora Zajick was Ježibaba, the witch who grants Rusalka’s wish at an awful price. Bass
John Relyea sang Rusalka’s father, the Water Gnome, and soprano
Emily Magee was the jealous Foreign Princess.
Rusalka will be heard over the
Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 3. Listen to it on Classical IPR.
This encore broadcast from 2018 features an outstanding ensemble cast. Bass
Ildar Abdrazakov starred as the quick-witted valet Figaro opposite soprano
Nadine Sierra as his equally resourceful bride, the maid Susanna.
Soprano
Mariusz Kwiecien as the philandering Count, and mezzo-soprano
Isabel Leonard was the perpetually love-sick pageboy Cherubino.
Harry Bicket led the Met Orchestra and Chorus in this sparkling musical masterpiece.
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro will be heard over the
Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 13. Listen to it on Classical IPR.
Click here to view and English translation of the libretto.
, a 2014 performance featuring mezzo-soprano
Anita Rachvelishvili in the role that brought her international stardom.
She sang the title character of the gypsy who prizes her freedom above everything else, opposite tenor
Aleksandrs Antonenko as the volatile and jealous Don José. Soprano
Anita Hartig was the virtuous Micaëla, and bass
Ildar Abdrazakov sang the swaggering bullfighter Escamillo.
Pablo Heras-Casado conducted the Met Orchestra and Chorus in Bizet’s blockbuster score, one of the most beloved operas in the repertory.
Carmen will be heard over the
Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 6. Listen to it on Classical IPR.
, a highlight from 2017.
Soprano
Renée Fleming starred as the glamorous and worldly Marschallin, making her final appearance in that signature role, and mezzo-soprano
Elīna Garanča bid farewell to the role of Octavian, the Marschallin’s much younger lover.
The acclaimed cast also featured soprano
Erin Morley as Sophie, who captures Octavian’s heart, and bass
Günther Groissböck as the Marschallin’s insufferable cousin Baron Ochs, along with tenor
Matthew Polenzani as the Italian Singer and baritone
Marcus Brück as Faninal.
Sebastian Weigle led the Met Orchestra and Chorus in this humorous and deeply moving opera that deals with the passage of time and the changes it brings.