WRTI is proud to present the 2023-24 season of the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts, hosted by Debra Lew Harder. Tune in Saturdays at 1 p.m., at 90.1 FM, here at wrti.org, or the WRTI Mobile App.
The broadcast, which first aired in 1931, is the longest-running classical program in American radio history. Starting this year, it has a new sponsor: The Robert K. Johnson Foundation, which will support the broadcast through its centennial 2031-2032 season.
In its 2023-24 season, The Met Opera, with music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, presented modern classics like John Adams' El Niño and Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking as well as touchstones of the repertory, by Puccini, Bizet and Verdi. This season also saw The Met present an acclaimed staging of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, which Anthony Davis originally premiered at New York City Opera in 1986.
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All broadcasts at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
December 9 - Daniel Catán: Florencia en el Amazonas – New Production/Met Premiere
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Ailyn Pérez (Florencia), Gabriella Reyes (Rosalba), Mario Chang (Arcadio), Mattia Olivieri (Riolobo), Nancy Fabiola Herrera (Paula), Michael Chioldi (Álvaro), Greer Grimsley (Captain)
December 16 - Mozart: The Magic Flute – abridged English-language version
Patrick Furrer; Piotr Buszewski (Tamino), Janai Brugger (Pamina), Rolando Villazón (Papageno), Brindley Sherratt (Sarastro), Kathryn Lewek (Queen of the Night), Brenton Ryan (Monostatos), Patrick Carfizzi (Speaker)
December 23 - Wagner: Tannhäuser
Donald Runnicles; Andreas Schager (Tannhäuser), Elza van den Heever (Elisabeth), Ekaterina Gubanova (Venus), Christian Gerhaher (Wolfram), Georg Zeppenfeld (Landgraf Hermann)
December 30 - Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro - Honoring the centenaries of Cesare Siepi and Victoria de los Angeles with a performance from April 7, 1956
Max Rudolf; Cesare Siepi (Figaro), Victoria de los Angeles (Countess Almaviva), Nadine Conner (Susanna), Frank Guarrera (Count Almaviva), Mildred Miller (Cherubino)
January 6, 2024 - Verdi: Nabucco
Daniele Callegari; George Gagnidze (Nabucco), Liudmyla Monastyrska (Abigaille), Dmitry Belosselskiy (Zaccaria), SeokJong Baek (Ismaele), Maria Barakova (Fenena)
January 13 - Puccini: La Bohème
Marco Armiliato; Elena Stikhina (Mimì), Joseph Calleja (Rodolfo), Kristina Mkhitaryan (Musetta), Adam Plachetka (Marcello), Krzysztof Bączyk (Colline), Rodion Pogossov (Schaunard), Donald Maxwell (Benoit/Alcindoro)
January 20 - Jake Heggie: Dead Man Walking – New Production/Met Premiere - Performance from October 21, 2023
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Joyce DiDonato (Sister Helen Prejean), Ryan McKinny (Joseph De Rocher), Susan Graham (Mrs. Patrick De Rocher), Latonia Moore (Sister Rose)
January 27 - Bizet: Carmen – New Production
Daniele Rustioni; Aigul Akhmetshina (Carmen), Piotr Beczała (Don José), Angel Blue (Micaëla), Kyle Ketelsen (Escamillo)
February 3 - Anthony Davis: X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X – New Production/Met Premiere - Performance from November 18, 2023
Kazem Abdullah; Will Liverman (Malcolm), Victor Ryan Robertson (Elijah/Street), Leah Hawkins (Louise/Betty), Raehann Bryce-Davis (Ella), Michael Sumuel (Reginald)
February 10 - Valentines from the Met: Great Love Duets - Romantic moments in memorable performances from the Met's radio archives
February 17 - Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera - Performance from fall 2023
Carlo Rizzi; Charles Castronovo (Gustavo III), Angela Meade (Amelia), Quinn Kelsey (Count Anckarström), Liv Redpath (Oscar), Olesya Petrova (Ulrica)
February 24 - Mozart and Beethoven in Concert at the Met - Mozart: Requiem from February 24, 2023 and the finale of Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 from March 14, 2022
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Golda Schultz, Emily D’Angelo, Dmytro Popov, Vladyslav Buialskyi / Elza van den Heever, Jamie Barton, Piotr Beczala, Ryan Speedo Green
March 2 - Listeners’ Choice: Great Met Broadcasts - Opera TBA
March 9 - Verdi: La Forza del Destino – New Production
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Lise Davidsen (Leonora), Brian Jagde (Don Alvaro), Igor Golovatenko (Don Carlo di Vargas), Soloman Howard (Marquis of Calatrava/Padre Guardiano), Judit Kutasi (Preziosilla), Patrick Carfizzi (Fra Melitone)
March 16 - Puccini: Turandot
Oksana Lyniv; Elena Pankratova (Turandot), SeokJong Baek (Calàf), Aleksandra Kurzak (Liù),Vitalij Kowaljow (Timur)
March 23 - Gounod: Roméo et Juliette
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Nadine Sierra (Juliette), Benjamin Bernheim (Roméo), Will Liverman (Mercutio), Alfred Walker (Frère Laurent), Samantha Hankey (Stéphano), Frederick Ballentine (Tybalt)
March 30 - Verdi: Requiem - Performance from September 27, 2023
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Leah Hawkins, Karen Cargill, Matthew Polenzani, Dmitry Belosselskiy
April 6 - Donizetti: L'Elisir d'Amore - Performance from April 6, 1974
Max Rudolf; Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino), Judith Blegen (Adina), John Reardon (Belcore), Ezio Flagello (Dr. Dulcamara)
April 13 - J. Strauss: Die Fledermaus - Celebrating the opera’s 150th anniversary with a performance from December 31, 1986
Jeffrey Tate; Kiri Te Kanawa (Rosalinde), Håkan Hagegård (Eisenstein), Judith Blegen (Adele), Tatiana Troyanos (Prince Orlofsky), David Rendall (Alfred), Michael Devlin (Dr. Falke)
April 20 - Puccini: La Rondine
Speranza Scappucci; Angel Blue (Magda), Jonathan Tetelman (Ruggero), Emily Pogorelc (Lisette), Bekhzod Davronov (Prunier)
April 27 - Terence Blanchard: Fire Shut Up in My Bones - Performance from spring 2024
Evan Rogister; Ryan Speedo Green (Charles), Latonia Moore (Billie), Brittany Renee (Destiny/Loneliness/Greta)
May 4 - John Adams: El Niño – New Production/Met Premiere
Marin Alsop; Julia Bullock (Soprano), Daniela Mack (Mezzo-Soprano), Davóne Tines (Bass-Baritone), Key’mon W. Murrah (Countertenor), Siman Chung (Countertenor), Eric Jurenas (Countertenor)
May 11 - Puccini: Madama Butterfly
Xian Zhang; Asmik Grigorian (Cio-Cio-San), Jonathan Tetelman (Pinkerton), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Lucas Meachem (Sharpless)
May 18 - Kevin Puts: The Hours
Kensho Watanabe; Renée Fleming (Clarissa Vaughan), Joyce DiDonato (Virginia Woolf), Kelli O’Hara (Laura Brown), Kyle Ketelsen (Richard), Sean Panikkar (Leonard Woolf), Brandon Cedel (Dan Brown), William Burden (Louis)
May 25 - Puccini: La Fanciulla del West - Performance from October 27, 2018
Marco Armiliato; Eva-Maria Westbroek (Minnie), Jonas Kaufmann (Dick Johnson), Željko Lučić (Jack Rance), Carlo Bosi (Nick), Michael Todd Simpson (Sonora), Matthew Rose (Ashby), Oren Gradus (Jake Wallace)
June 1 - Massenet: Cinderella - Performance from January 1, 2022
Emmanuel Villaume; Isabel Leonard (Cinderella), Emily D'Angelo (Prince Charming), Stephanie Blythe (Madame de la Haltière), Laurent Naouri (Pandolfe), Jessica Pratt (Fairy Godmother)
June 8 - Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice
Christian Curnyn; Anthony Roth Costanzo (Orfeo), Ying Fang (Euridice), Elena Villalón (Amore)
