The Metropolitan Opera 2017/2018 Saturday Matinee broadcasts return to WAMC starting December 2nd at 1PM. The operas will air every Saturday at 1PM until May 5th, 2018.
December 2nd, 2017 @1PM--Verdi Requiem (Verdi)
For the first time since 2008, James Levine conducts a special series of concerts of Verdi’s great mass, written in memory of Italian poet Alessandro Manzoni. The company has assembled a quartet of extraordinary soloists to join the incomparable Met Orchestra and Chorus: Krassimira Stoyanova, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ferruccio Furlanetto.
December 9th, 2017 @1PM--The Magic Flute (Mozart)
The Met’s English-language family version of Mozart’s enchanting masterpiece has become one of the city’s essential holiday traditions. Evan Rogister conducts Julie Taymor’s spellbinding production, with special holiday pricing and a 100-minute running time. Nathan Gunn reprises his much-loved portrayal of the bird-catcher Papageno.
December 16th, 2017 @1PM—Norma (Bellini)
“Ponselle, Milanov, Sutherland, Callas … after last night, Radvanovsky can add her name to the list,” declared the Huffington Post when Sondra Radvanovsky made her Met role debut as Norma in 2013. The 2017–18 season opens with a new production of Bellini’s masterpiece, starring Radvanovsky as the Druid priestess and Joyce DiDonato as her archrival, Adalgisa—a casting coup for bel canto fans. Tenor Joseph Calleja is Pollione, Norma’s unfaithful lover, and Carlo Rizzi conducts. Sir David McVicar’s evocative production sets the action deep in a Druid forest where nature and ancient ritual rule.
December 23rd, 2017 @1PM--Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
An exceptional ensemble of performers—including Ailyn Pérez, Nadine Sierra, Isabel Leonard, Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien, and Ildar Abdrazakov—share the stage in Mozart’s comic yet profound look at human nature and one crazy day in a wealthy Spanish household. Acclaimed Mozartean maestro Harry Bicket conducts Richard Eyre’s high-spirited production.
December 30th, 2017 @1PM--The Merry Widow (Lehár)
Susan Graham sings the title role of the fabulous woman of the world who sets out to conquer glamorous old Paris and get the one thing that has eluded her—a commitment from her playboy first love. Lehár’s delightful score of lush waltzes and beautiful ballads will sparkle with a supporting cast of Andriana Chuchman, Paul Groves, and the inimitable Sir Thomas Allen. Ward Stare conducts.