What to Expect: A New Season of Met Opera Broadcasts

Boito’s “Mefistofele” kicks off the new Met Opera Broadcast Season | Photo by Karen Almond/Met Opera

Opera lovers mark your calendars! The Saturday matinee broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera return to our airwaves on December 1 at 10am with Boito’s devilishly delightful, Mefistofele. The performance features two opera superstars in Angela Meade and, one of our Bay Area faves, Michael Fabiano. From there it’s non-stop operatic wonderfulness right up until the final broadcast on May 11. This season welcomes a new Music Director to the Met, the young Canadian Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Just some of the highlights include Placido Domingo in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the source of arguably opera’s most famous aria, “O mio babbino caro”, (December 8).

Juan Diego Florez and Diana Damrau in “La Traviata” Photo by Vincent Peters/Met Opera

I can’t wait for Diana Damrau in Verdi’s La Traviata, with tenor Juan Diego Florez hitting the heights, no doubt, with his portrayal of Alfredo. Florez’ rival for greatest tenor in the universe these days is the German, Jonas Kaufmann, who will star in The Girl of the Golden West opposite Eva-Maria Westbroek, on December 22. Another man-of-the-moment, conductor Gustavo Dudamel, makes his Met debut this season. We’ll have the chance to hear him conduct Verdi’s Otello on January 5. And Kathleen Turner, (yes, that Kathleen Turner), appears in the non-singing role of the Duchess of Krackenthorp in Donizetti’s comedy Daughter of the Regiment on March 2. I could go on!

A Scene from Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment” | Photo by Marty Sohl/Met Opera

A Scene from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” | Photo by Marty Sohl/Met Opera

In the meantime, explore the rest of the Met Opera Saturday Morning Broadcast schedule.