Metropolitan Opera 2012-13 Season

Airs saturday, May 11 at 11 a.m. The 2012-13 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season concludes with a live broadcast of Götterdämmerung, the fourth and final opera in Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the performance, which stars soprano Deborah Voigt as Brünnhilde, opposite Swedish tenor Lars Cleveman, who makes his network debut as Siegfried. The cast also includes Karen Cargill as Brünnhilde’s sister, Waltraute; Hans-Peter König as the evil Hagen; Iain Paterson as Gunther, king of the Gibichungs; and Wendy Bryn Harmer as his sister Gutrune. Götterdämmerung will be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, May 11. 

Airs Saturday, May 4 at 12 noon.  The 2012-13 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with a live broadcast of Dialogues des Carmélites, Poulenc’s opera about a group of nuns whose faith is tested under the Terror of the French Revolution. Louis Langrée conducts the first Met performance of the opera since 2003, which will feature role debuts by Isabel Leonard as the naïve Blanche de la Force and Patricia Racette as Madame Lidoine, the inspiring new Prioress of a Carmelite convent. Felicity Palmer will reprise her acclaimed portrayal of the ailing old Prioress, Madame de Croissy, and the cast also includes Erin Morley as Sister Constance, Elizabeth Bishop as Mother Marie, and Paul Appleby as Blanche’s brother. Dialogues des Carmélites will be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 12:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 4. 

Airs Saturday, April 27 at 12 noon.  The 2012-13 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with a live broadcast of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, starring countertenor David Daniels in the title role and soprano Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra, conducted by Baroque specialist Harry Bicket.  David McVicar’s popular staging, originally produced at the Glyndebourne Festival and having its Met premiere this season, incorporates many innovative elements into the story of Caesar and Cleopatra’s romance—including extensive choreography by Andrew George.

Airs Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m. The 2012-13 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with a live broadcast of Siegfried, the third opera in Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the performance, which is part of the first of three Ring cycles that will be heard at the Met this season in honor of the composer’s bicentennial. Jay Hunter Morris sings the title role of the fearless hero, with Deborah Voigt as his true love, Brünnhilde; Mark Delavan as the Wanderer – the god Wotan in disguise; Gerhard Siegel as the Nibelung dwarf Mime; Eric Owens as Mime’s brother Alberich; and Meredith Arwady as the earth goddess Erda. Siegfried will be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, April 20.

Airs Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. The 2012-13 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with a live broadcast of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas in Wagner’s epic Der Ring des Nibelungen. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the performance, part of the first of three Ring cycles that will be heard at the Met this season in honor of the composer’s bicentennial. Deborah Voigt returns in the title role of the warrior maiden Brünnhilde, in a cast that also includes Mark Delavan in his company role debut as her father Wotan, ruler of the gods; Stephanie Blythe as his formidable wife Fricka, the goddess of marriage; Martina Serafin in her Met debut as Sieglinde and Simon O’Neill as her twin, Siegmund; and Hans-Peter König as Sieglinde’s brutal husband, Hunding. Die Walküre will be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday, April 13.