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The Metropolitan Opera’s 2009-10 Saturday Radio Broadcast Season

Kicks Off December 12 on Classical Wyoming First Opera is Puccini’s Il Trittico 22 opera season includes four premieres and new productions of Tosca and Les Contes d’Hoffmann Met Music Director James Levine conducts New York, NY / Laramie, WY —The 79th consecutive season of the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts launches on December 12, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. on Classical Wyoming with Puccini’s Il Trittico, starring Patricia Racette singing all three leading soprano roles. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe also appears in the Puccini triple-bill. The 22-week season (Click here for a complete schedule), carried on Classical Wyoming – part of the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network - runs through May 8 and features live matinee performances broadcast direct from the Met stage, one pre-recorded performance, and one archival performance. Four operas that have never been broadcast on the Met’s Saturday Matinee series highlight the season: Shostakovich’s The Nose, Janáček’s From the House of the Dead, Thomas’s Hamlet, and Rossini’s Armida. Three more new productions from the Met season are also on the broadcast schedule: Tosca and Les Contes d’Hoffmann, both conducted by Met Music Director James Levine, and Carmen. Levine also conducts the broadcast of Simon Boccanegra with Plácido Domingo singing the title role for the first time at the Met, and Lulu. Margaret Juntwait returns for her sixth season as host of the broadcasts. The Met on Classical Wyoming is possible because of listener contributions. To support the Met on Classical Wyoming please become a member. Click Here Premieres The first of the four operas having their Met Saturday Matinee Broadcast premieres is The Nose, based on a Gogol short story, under the baton of dynamic conductor Valery Gergiev, with Tony Award winner Paulo Szot making his Met broadcast debut in the lead role of Kovalyov. The new production is directed and designed by William Kentridge in his Met debut. The network premiere of From the House of the Dead, directed by Patrice Chéreau (in his Met debut) on March 20 features another major first, the Saturday Matinee broadcast debut of conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. (The performance of the Janáček opera will be recorded in the fall before the live broadcasts begin so that it can be part of the Saturday Matinee Radio season.)  Peter Mattei in the role of Shishkov leads a powerful ensemble cast. One week later Thomas’s Hamlet takes to the airwaves with the celebrated singing actors Simon Keenlyside and Natalie Dessay bringing their acclaimed portrayals of the title role and Ophélie, respectively, to worldwide radio audiences. Louis Langrée conducts the production by debuting directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser. The final network broadcast premiere of the season is Rossini’s Armida on May 1, starring Renée Fleming in the virtuosic role of the alluring sorceress. The production is by Mary Zimmerman; Riccardo Frizza conducts. Met Music Director James Levine leads two new productions and two major revivals in the broadcast season, beginning on December 19 with Bartlett Sher’s new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann starring acclaimed tenor Joseph Calleja in the title role and Anna Netrebko as Antonia. Levine also leads the new Tosca production by director Luc Bondy on April 24, featuring renowned soprano Karita Mattila in the title role opposite the Cavaradossi and Scarpia of Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel – all network role debuts. The world’s most famous tenor, Plácido Domingo, makes Met history by singing the title role of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, his first baritone part, with Levine leading the revival broadcast on February 6. The final broadcast of the season is Berg’s Lulu, an opera that Levine has championed since he conducted the Met premiere in 1977. He again leads the 20th century masterpiece on the May 8 broadcast with Marlis PetersenAnne Sofie von Otter as the Countess Geschwitz. The new production of Carmen by Richard Eyre, starring the glamorous Elīna Garanča in the title role (her Met role debut) and Roberto Alagna as her jealous lover, Don José, is broadcast on January 16. Barbara Frittoli is Micaëla, Mariusz Kwiecien the toreador Escamillo, and the exceptional young Canadian conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, makes his network broadcast debut with this performance. The Met continues its recent tradition of presenting family-friendly works during the holiday season with an English-language version of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, conducted by Fabio Luisi. The broadcast on January 2, 2010, features Miah Persson as Gretel in her network radio debut and Angelika Kirchschlager in her network role debut as Hansel. Tenor Philip Langridge repeats his hilarious tour de force as the Witch. The December 12 performance of Il Trittico is conducted by Stefano Ranzani. In addition to Patricia Racette and Stephanie Blythe, Puccini’s trilogy of one-act operas—  Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi— will feature Salvatore Licitra, Željko Lučić, and Alessandro Corbelli in other leading roles. Other season highlights include: Strauss’s Elektra, conducted by Fabio Luisi, with Susan Bullock in the title role and Deborah Voigt as Chrysothemis (December 26); Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier with Edo de Waart conducting two of America’s reigning divas, Renée Fleming and Susan Graham in roles for which they are justly acclaimed—the Marschallin and Octavian (January 9); Verdi’s Stiffelio, conducted by Domingo, with José Cura in the title role and Sondra Radvanovsky as Lina (January 30); Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment with Diana Damrau making her Met role debut as Marie and Juan Diego Flórez repeating his sensational Tonio, under the baton of Marco Armiliato (February 13); Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, conducted by Kirill Petrenko with Nina Stemme, who returns to the Met for the first time in nine years, in the title role (February 20); Puccini’s La Bohème with Anna Netrebko and Piotr BeczalaLucia di Lammermoor (February 27); Verdi’s Aida, conducted by Paolo Carignani, with Hasmik Papian, Dolora Zajick, and Salvatore Licitra in the ever-popular tale of love on the banks of the Nile (April 3); Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, with Julia Kleiter in her Met debut, Matthew Polenzani and Nathan Gunn each in acclaimed roles, led by Adam Fischer (April 10); and Verdi’s La Traviata with Angela Gheorghiu in her most famous portrayal, the consumptive courtesan, opposite debuting young tenor James Valenti as her lover and Thomas Hampson in one of his most admired roles as the elder Germont, conducted by Leonard Slatkin (April 17). reprising their thrilling partnership that ignited last season’s About the Met Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory. The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world.