Coming up this month on the Saturday Metropolitan Opera Matinee Broadcasts:
April 1st @1PM--Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fidelio
Beethoven’s only opera—an ode to freedom, justice, and the human spirit—returns to the Met with a fine cast. Adrianne Pieczonka “brings an affecting blend of emotional vulnerability and valiant determination” (New York Times) to the role of Leonore, who, disguised as Fidelio, courageously fights for her husband Florestan’s freedom. Klaus Florian Vogt sings with “uncommon tenderness and poignancy” (New York Times) as Florestan, Greer Grimsley is Don Pizarro, and Falk Struckmann is Rocco. Conductor Sebastian Weigle brings “breadth, shape, and character to Beethoven’s score” (New York Times).
April 8th @1PM--Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde opens the Met season in a new production by Mariusz Treli?ski (the director responsible for the 2014–15 season’s double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle), and will be well served by a cast of outstanding Wagnerians: Nina Stemme as Isolde, Stuart Skelton as Tristan, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, and René Pape as King Marke, with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, in one of his rare appearances at the Met.
An “audacious new production… Compelling, vulnerable performances… from a strong cast, especially the astonishing soprano Nina Stemme… [Her Isolde is] outstanding... from steely rawness to melting warmth.” Stuart Skelton “sings with musical integrity and feeling.” Simon Rattle conducts with “impressively balanced clarity and richness, coolness and intensity, intelligence and impetuosity.”
—New York Times
April 15th @1PM--Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida
The Met’s monumental staging is a dazzling backdrop for the star-crossed love story set amid the clash of ancient empires. Three commanding sopranos—Liudmyla Monastyrska, Latonia Moore, and Krassimira Stoyanova—appear in the title role, the slave girl Aida,who is secretly a princess. Ekaterina Gubanova and Violeta Urmana are the formidable Amneris, daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh, and Marco Berti is the hero Radamès, caught between them. Marco Armiliato and Daniele Rustioni conduct.
April 22nd @1PM--Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
Tchaikovsky’s setting of Pushkin’s timeless verse novel is presented on the Met stage in Deborah Warner’s moving production, starring Anna Netrebko as Tatiana and Mariusz Kwiecien and Peter Mattei sharing the title role. Alexey Dolgov sings the role of Lenski, and Robin Ticciati conducts.
April 29th @1PM--Richard Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer
New Met star Michael Volle sings the title role of the ghostly sailor damned to wander the seas in search of the love that will set him free, under the baton of the exciting Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Amber Wagner is Senta, whose love he seeks. The powerhouse cast also includes Dolora Zajick, Ben Bliss, Franz-Josef Selig, and Jay Hunter Morris as Erik, returning for the first time after his memorable portrayal of Siegfried in Wagner’s Ring.