Placido Domingo Conducts Stiffelio on Met's Saturday Matinee Broadcast

The Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera on January 30 will be Stiffelio by Giuseppe Verdi. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT). Approximate running time 2 hours, 49 minutes.

Tenor José Cura leads an accomplished cast in Verdi’s powerful drama that contrasts faith and doubt. Sondra Radvanovsky is Lina and Plácido Domingo conducts.

The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play Le Pasteur, ou L’Évangile et le Foyer by Emile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois. Stiffelio had it's world premiere on November 16, 1850 at Teatro Grande, Trieste.

Wine & Beer Tasting on February 5 to Benefit Opera Theatre of Saint Louis

Opera Theatre of Saint Louis will present its annual Wine & Beer Tasting on Friday, February 5, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Sally S. Levy Opera Center, 210 Hazel Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri.

From OTSL's official press release:

The best and brightest of St. Louis’s young professional set will gather in the Opera Center’s unique rehearsal halls for exquisite wines, extraordinary brews, an impressive array of hors d’oeuvres, and an enticing silent auction.

The evening will feature fine wines from Big Sky Cafe, Calistoga Cellars, Garland Wines, Niche Restaurant, Onesto Pizza & Trattoria, PRP Wine International, Inc., and Robust Wine Bar. Grey Eagle Distributors will provide tasty brews and The Saint Louis Originals (Hospitality Sponsor) will present hors d’oeuvres from Companion Bake Shops, Eleven Eleven Mississippi, LoRusso’s Cucina, Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood, Ricardo’s Italian Café, Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream, SqWires, and Vin de Set. Kaldi’s Coffee will also be pouring samples.

Guests will have the chance to bid on silent auction items including an exclusive wine tasting featuring a vertical of Bryant Family Wine hosted by Gina Hoagland and Ron Fisher, and a cocktail party for fifty people at Patti and Kevin Short’s historic Central West End mansion. Guests will also have the chance to bid on rare vintages, wine and beer-related gifts, and fine dining packages from favorite St. Louis restaurants and more. Even guests who don’t win an auction item can take home a prize: the grab bag offers a chance to select a wrapped bottle of wine for $20. Some lucky guests could be surprised with a bottle worth $100!

Proceeds from the Wine & Beer Tasting benefit the professional development programs for emerging artists at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Tickets are $75 per person, $100 per person for Brewmasters, $125 per person for Sommeliers and the $500 Connoisseur level includes two tickets. (Brewmasters, Sommeliers, and Connoisseurs will be recognized in the event program). Please call in advance to make your reservations for this popular event.

The evening is co-chaired by Heidi and Win Reed and Mary Ann and Andy Srenco. For information and event tickets, please call (314) 963-4223, or email 223@opera-stl.org.

Met Opera to Broadcast 1958 Performance of Samuel Barber's Vanessa

Eleanor Steber
The Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera on January 23 will be Samuel Barber's Vanessa, first transmitted on February 1, 1958. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT).

Margaret Juntwait, host of the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network broadcasts, reports that

This performance was originally broadcast live just two weeks after the opera's triumphant world premiere at the old Met on January 15, 1958. You’ll be riveted by this haunting story about the tragic cost of idealistic love and self-deception. It's brought to life by some of the brightest stars in Met history: Eleanor Steber in the title role, with Rosalind Elias, Nicolai Gedda, Regina Resnik, and Giorgio Tozzi -- conducted by the dynamic Maestro Dimitri Mitropoulos. During intermission, we’ll hear some of the stars reminisce about being part of the world premiere.

In a January 12, 1958, New York Times article called "Birth Pangs of a First Opera" Samuel Barber describes the protracted process of getting the completed libretto from Gian-Carlo Menotti, who agreed to write the libretto in 1954. Barber says that "Waiting for the finished libretto required the patience of Job." After the Menotti's writing stalled after the first scene while he and Barber where on the Maine seacoast, Barber says that he

refused to write a note until the complete libretto was finished.

My tactic succeeded brilliantly. It made him so nervous that he sat on a rock by another sea -- the Mediterranean this time -- every morning until, by summer's end, what I think is perhaps the finest and most chiseled of his libretti was finished.

Barber says that with the libretto finished he played Vanessa for Rudolph Bing and three other representatives of the Met. Barber says that "I decided to dispense with singers and sing all the parts, in some fashion, myself. This was not easy, even in a love duet."

Barber says that only a few weeks before the debut Sena Jurinac, who had been cast in the title role, fell ill and canceled her entire Met season. Barber says

I suddenly found myself without a Vanessa. There was consternation in the opera house and talk of a year's postponement.

Two day's later Mr. Bing phoned. "I feel somewhat calmer," he said. "Can you see Eleanor Steber?" It was a meeting of old friends. I cannot adequately extol her gallantry in undertaking this difficult role in so short a time.

Carmen Met Saturday Matinee

Elīna Garanča
The Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera will be Georges Bizet's Carmen. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT). A high-definition live transmission of Carmen will also be presented in the Saint Louis Art Museum auditorium simultaneously. Expected running time is 3 hours, 30 minutes, with 1 intermission.

The Met web site says that Carmen is:

One of the most popular operas of all time, Carmen "is about sex, violence, and racism — and its corollary: freedom," says Olivier Award-winning director Richard Eyre about his new production of Bizet's drama. "It is one of the inalienably great works of art. It's sexy, in every sense. And I think it should be shocking." Elīna Garanča sings the seductive gypsy of the title for the first time at the Met, opposite Roberto Alagna as the obsessed Don José.

Tickets for the high-definition performance transmission at the Saint Louis Art Museum Auditorium are $22 ($15 Members of the Saint Louis Art Museum, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Metropolitan Opera, New York, and children 12 and under), and are available by calling 314-534-1111. Doors open 30 minutes before showtime.

The SLAM web site notes:

The Museum Auditorium seats 480 people. The screen is approximately 12 feet by 22 feet, and the opera broadcasts will be received in high-definition via satellite. The auditorium uses a widescreen, high-definition projector at 1080i. The sound system is Dolby 5.1 digital surround. Those seeking the best sound experience will want to obtain seats in the center rear of the front section.

Teatro Lirico D'Europa at the Touhill on January 16

Snejana Dramcheva as Violetta Valery
Teatro Lirico D'Europa will perform Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata on Saturday, January 16, at 8 p.m., at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The opera will be performed in Italian with English supertitles.

Teatro Lirico D’Europa, formed in 1988 by Bulgarian impresario, Giorgio Lalov, has completed over 4,000 performances worldwide including 10 consecutive major opera tours in the U.S. covering over 500 performances at 105 different venues.

Soprano Snejana Dramcheva stars as Violetta Valery, and Igor Borko portrays Alfredo. Peter Danailov sings the role of Germont.

Winter Opera St. Louis Presents Werther

Jules Massenet's Werther will be presented by Winter Opera Saint Louis at Missouri Baptist University's Pillsbury Chapel and Dale Williams Fine Arts Center on Saturday, January 16, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, January 17, at 3:00 p.m.

This opera, based on a novel by Goethe, depicts the joys and suffering of the quintessential romantic whose ardent passion is thwarted by a sacred vow and marriage. Starring Hugo Vera as Werther, Nora Teipen as Charlotte, Ian Greenlaw as Albert, Megan Higgins as Sophie, and Operatic Saint Louis' Phil Touchette as Bruhlmann.

Union Avenue Opera artistic director Scott Schoonover will conduct and John Stephens will direct.

Tickets range from $20 to $45 and can be purchased by calling 314.865.0038 or online by clicking here.

Renee Fleming Stars in Met High-Definition Transmission on January 9

Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss will be presented in high-definition video by the Metropolitan Opera on January 9 at 12 noon (CT) in the auditorium of the St. Louis Art Museum. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will also carry the broadcast at the same time. Approximate running time 4 hours, 23 minutes, with 2 intermissions.

Renée Fleming stars as the aristocratic Marschallin and Susan Graham plays the trouser role of her young lover. Edo de Waart conducts a cast that also includes Kristinn Sigmundsson and Thomas Allen.

Tickets for the high-definition performance transmission at the Saint Louis Art Museum Auditorium are $22 ($15 Members of the Saint Louis Art Museum, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Metropolitan Opera, New York, and children 12 and under), and are available by calling 314-534-1111. Doors open 30 minutes before showtime.

The SLAM web site notes:

The Museum Auditorium seats 480 people. The screen is approximately 12 feet by 22 feet, and the opera broadcasts will be received in high-definition via satellite. The auditorium uses a widescreen, high-definition projector at 1080i. The sound system is Dolby 5.1 digital surround. Those seeking the best sound experience will want to obtain seats in the center rear of the front section

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Hansel and Gretel Met Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Photo of Miah Persson
The Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera on January 2 will be Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT). Running time will be approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Vivien Schweitzer reviewed the Met's production in the December 16, 2009, edition of the New York Times. Here's the first paragraph:

Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel, the familiar story of hunger, kidnapping, cannibalism and witch burning, is perhaps a strange work to have become a Christmas staple. Richard Jones’s deliciously dark production, which returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Monday, doesn’t tone down the less savory aspects of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale that inspired it.

Click here to read the entire review.