Opera on WRTI

Saturdays, *1 to 5 pm
*Start times vary; please check your WRTI Monthly E-Newsletter for updated schedule information

Each week, WRTI brings you great performances from some of the finest opera companies in the world.  In addition to the full season of radio broadcasts from The Metropolitan Opera, you'll hear broadcasts from the Academy of Vocal Arts, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and more...

Saturday, July 4
1 to 3:40 pm
Howard Shore: THE FLY (in English)
LA Opera
Conducted by Placido Domingo
Libretto by David Henry Hwang

Howard Shore's The Fly is a dark, romantic tragedy that presents a Kafkaesque meditation on man's uneasy relationship with technology.

The Fly, a sci-fi love story, is the result of a commission by the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, where the opera premiered on July 2, 2008, and LA Opera, where the opera was first performed on September 7, 2008.

Placido Domingo conducts the U.S. premiere of The Fly -  written by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings) and based on the original 1957 George Langelaan short story as well as David Cronenberg's 1986 film. The libretto is by the Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly).

The opera is about an engrossing exploration of the physical and psychological transformation in which a brilliant scientist begins to mutate into a hybrid of man and fly after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Time magazine described The Fly as "a profound parable on love and loss." In its metamorphosis into an opera, this dark romantic tragedy presents a Kafkaesque meditation on man's uneasy relationship with technology. As the doomed scientist Seth Brundle and his girlfriend Veronica Quaife, Daniel Okulitch and Ruxandra Donose make their LA Opera debuts. Gary Lehman plays the part of Veronica's editor and former lover, Stathis Borans.

The dream-team of composer Howard Shore, director David Cronenberg, and librettist David Henry Hwang make an intriguing LA Opera debut bringing a cult classic to life.

More Information:

• Read profiles of cast members
• All about The Fly -- view multimedia website
• About LA Opera