Great Performances at the Met.

The Metropolitan Opera's production of The Magic Flute will be broadcast on PBS tonight. The really good news is that this is the first of a series. So nice to have them back!

Amen rispondo

Did you know that BBC Radio 3 broadcasts a live opera from the Met every Saturday evening and that these broadcasts are available from the Radio 3 website for 7 days after broadcast? See the Radio 3 group for details.

Thanks for the tip. I get them on a public radio station here, but broadcast rather than streaming. So if I miss one, I'm out of luck. Until now!

Glad to be of help.

Tonight's broadcast is Orfeo and Euridice.

Tomorrow's Opera on 3:

Verdi's Stiffelio
Conducted by Mark Elder
Saturday 19 May 2007 18:30-21:00 (Radio 3)

Argentinian tenor Jose Cura returns to a role in which he had an early success at the Royal Opera House. Verdi's opera tells of a Protestant pastor's reaction to his wife's infidelity, a subject that was so controversial in Italy at the time that the censors forced Verdi to make drastic cuts. Stiffelio has now re-entered the repertory after the original came to light and this production, which is directed by Elijah Moshinsky and sets the action in a religious community in the American Midwest, has become a resounding success. Presented by Stephanie Hughes.

Jorg, an elderly minister ...... Alastair Miles (bass)
Stiffelio, a minister ...... Jose Cura (tenor)
Stankar, Lina's father ...... Roberto Frontali (bass)
Dorotea, Lina's cousin ...... Liora Grodnikaite (mezzo-soprano)
Raffaele di Leuthold ...... Reinaldo Macias (tenor)
Frederico di Frengel, Lina's cousin ...... Nikola Matisic (tenor)
Lina, Stiffelio's wife ...... Sondra Radvanovsky (soprano)

Renato Balsadonna (chorus director)
Vasko Vassilev (concert master)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Mark Elder (conductor)

You may want to check out this Radio 3 webpage, "The Ring in a Day", about a broadcast of Richard Wagner's ring cycle. The site includes information, plot summeries, etc.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/thering/

I've just realised that most opera broadcasts on Radio 3 are not available on the Listen Again service, so you will have to catch the programmes as they are broadcast.

Tomorrow:

Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi
From the Royal Opera House
Saturday 26 May 2007 18:30-20:45 (Radio 3)

Stephanie Hughes introduces a double-bill of comedy recorded last month at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole features rising star Christine Rice as the clockmaker's wife who discovers that the best way to sneak her lovers into the bedroom is inside the grandfather clocks made by her husband.

Ravel's score is a masterpiece of colour, as is Puccini's for his only comedy, the story of the village wide-boy Gianni Schicchi who comes to the rescue of the greedy Donati family whilst making sure that he looks after himself as well! Bryn Terfel sings the role of Schicchi for the first time at the Royal Opera House and both operas feature superb supporting casts.

Duration:
2 hours 15 minutes

Playlist:
Ravel: L'Heure Espagnole
Torquemada, a clockmaker ...... Bonaventura Bottone (tenor)
Concepcion, clockmaker's wife ...... Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano)
Gonzalve, a bachelor ...... Yann Beuron (tenor)
Ramiro, muleteer ...... Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Don Inigo Gomez, a banker ...... Andrew Shore (bass)

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi ...... Bryn Terfel (baritone)
Lauretta, his daughter ...... Dina Kuznetsova (soprano)
Zita, cousin of Buoso Donati ...... Elena Zilio (contralto)
Rinuccio, Zita's nephew ...... Saimir Pirgu (tenor)
Gherardo, Buoso's nephew ...... Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (tenor)
Nella, Gherardo's wife ...... Joan Rodgers (soprano)
Betto di Signa, Buoso's brother-in-law ...... Jeremy White (bass)
Simone, cousin of Buoso ...... Gwynne Howell (bass)
Marco, Simone's son ...... Christopher Purves (baritone)
La Ciesca, Marco's wife ...... Marie McLaughlin (soprano)
Maestro Spinelloccio, a doctor ...... Henry Waddington (bass)
Ser Amantio di Nicolao, a notary ...... Enrico Fissore (bass)
Gerhardino, son of Gherardo

Thanks for the updates.

Opera on 3 on Radio 3 this evening features Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia Live from the Met. Figaro's here, Figaro's there, Figaro's everywhere, helping Count Almaviva win the hand of the lovely Rosina. But first the Count and his trusty barber must stop her guardian, Doctor Bartolo, from marrying her himself. Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca makes her highly anticipated Met debut as Rosina and Margaret Juntwait presents Rossini's masterpiece, described by Verdi as "the most beautiful comic opera of all."

This evening's broadcast will include the legendary Met Opera Quiz (click on the link for information on how to send in your questions) hosted by the soprano Roberta Peters who made her debut at the Met at the age of 20 and sang there for 35 years in 361 performances of 23 roles.

There are more details on the BBC Radio 3 webpage or the LibraryThing Radio 3 Group.