Anna Netrebko Stars in La Boheme on Saturday Matinee Met Broadcast

Marco Armiliato conducts as Anna Netrebko stars as Mimi in Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème on the Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT). Nicole Cabell plays Musetta and Piotr Beczala appears as Rodolfo. Approximate running time 3 hours.

From Anthony Tommasini's February 21 review of La Bohème:

For the revival that opened on Saturday night, however, the Met had an exceptional roster of singers, headed by an established star soprano, Anna Netrebko, as Mimi, and an emerging star tenor, Piotr Beczala, as Rodolfo. Ms. Netrebko was the main draw, but in the opera world there is intense interest right now in Mr. Beczala, who made his Met debut in 2006 as the Duke in Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”

Mimi is one of Ms. Netrebko’s best roles, and she was wonderful. She sang whole phrases with an exceptionally rich yet focused sound. But as usual her singing was not flawless. Her approach exposed every slight deviation of pitch. Also true to form, she took great expressive liberties with her singing — sometimes prolonging, sometimes rushing phrases — liberties that the conductor Marco Armiliato was too willing to accommodate.

Nina Stemme Stars in Met's Saturday Matinee Broadcast of Ariadne auf Naxos

Nina Stemme
Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos will be the Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT). Approximate running time 2 hours, 43 minutes.

From the Met web site:

Strauss’s dual gifts for groundbreaking modernity and classical elegance come together in a smart and fanciful production. The great Swedish diva Nina Stemme makes a rare appearance in the title role and Sarah Connolly as the Composer. Kirill Petrenko conducts.

Anthony Tommasini, in a review of the February 4 Met production of Ariadne auf Naxos, wrote:

In this opera-within-an-opera the lead role is actually an unnamed prima donna, whom we meet in the Prologue, backstage at the private theater of the wealthiest man in Vienna, who is giving a party. The guests will be entertained with the premiere of a tragic opera, "Ariadne auf Naxos," and a song-and-dance show from a troupe of comedic players. To save time, however, the unseen host orders that the opera and the comedy be performed simultaneously.

Union Avenue Opera hosts 4th annual Trivia Night this Friday

On Friday, February 19th, Union Avenue Opera hosts its 4th annual Trivia Night. John Tucci, longtime trivia host, will host and compile a variety of trivia categories!

Trivia Night includes door prizes, a raffle and a silent auction. Call 314.361.2881 for reservations. $15 per person or $120 for a table of 8. Visit the UAO website to reserve your table in advance.

When? Friday, February 19th @ 6:30pm

Where? The Heights -- 8001 Dale Ave, Richmond Heights

Union Avenue Opera will commence its 2010 Summer Season this July with a production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance followed by Donizetti's La fille du régiment and Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. For more information on the Trivia Night and the upcoming season, visit http://www.unionavenueopera.org/

Count the High Cs as Juan Diego Florez Stars in the Met's Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Juan Diego Flórez stars in Gaetano Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment, the Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera on February 13. Classic 99.1 KFUO-FM will carry the broadcast beginning at 12:00 noon (CT). Approximate running time is 2 hours, 44 minutes.

From the Met's web site:

New king of the high Cs Juan Diego Flórez reprises his headline-grabbing performance in the comic hit from the 2007–08 season. Diana Damrau makes her Met role debut as Marie. Kiri Te Kanawa returns to the Met stage in the speaking role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; and the Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna.

Vivien Schweitzer, in the February 7 edition of theNew York Times, points out that the role of "the Duchess of Krakenthorp is usually a spoken part. But a mere cameo role with a few lines would have been a miserly way for Kiri Te Kanawa, now 65, to make what may be her farewell to the house, where she has not sung in an opera since 1998." According to Schweitzer

The role was beefed up for Ms. Te Kanawa with extra dialogue, including lines like "Sweetheart, don’t be stingy with the Dom Pérignon." She entered at the beginning of Act II and sang the tune of the orchestral prelude, then a sultry rendition of Ginastera’s "Canción al Arbol del Olvido" ("Song of the Tree of Forgetting").

Simon Boccanegra Starring Placido Domingo Met's Saturday Matinee High-Definition Transmission

The Saturday matinee broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera will be Giuseppe Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. 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 at the AMC Esquire 7 Theatre on Clayton Road, The St. Louis Mills 18 in the St. Louis Mills Mall, and AMC Chesterfield 14 Cinemas in the Chesterfield Mall. Click here for ticket information

Expected running time is 3 hours, 40 minutes, with 2 intermissions.

The Met says:

Four decades into a legendary Met career, tenor Plácido Domingo makes history singing the title role in Verdi’s gripping political thriller, which is written for a baritone. Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, and James Morris are his co-stars in this moving and tragic story of a father and his lost daughter. James Levine conducts.

Due to construction at the Saint Louis Art Museum, transmissions at the SLAM Auditorium have been suspended.