KWMU-3 To Carry Met Broadcast of Don Carlo, Saturday, December 18, at 11:30 a.m.

Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip II.
The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 80th season of Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts -— the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history -— with a 22-week season featuring many of the world’s greatest operatic artists, beginning Saturday, December 18. Broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, the season begins with Verdi’s grand epic Don Carlo.

St. Louis Public Radio will carry the Met broadcast of Don Carlo on their HD channel, KWMU-3 beginning at 11:30 a.m. Approximate running time 4 hours, 30 minutes. Intermission times at approximately 1:10 p.m. and 2:20 p.m.

The Met's production of Don Carlo will star Younghoon Lee in the title role with Marina Poplavskaya as Elisabeth de Valois, Anna Smirnova as Princess Eboli, Simon Keenlyside as Rodrigo, Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip II, and Eric Halfvarson as the Grand Inquisitor. The conductor will be Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Don Carlo was composed by Giuseppe Verdi, with the original French libretto by François Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the play by Friedrich Schiller. The Italian translation by Achille de Lauzières and Angelo Zanardini . The world premiere was given by the Paris Opera (Salle Le Peletier), on March 11, 1867 (French version). The U.S. premiere was given in New York by the Academy of Music on April 12, 1877 (five-act version, in Italian). The Metropolitan Opera premiere was given on December 23, 1920 (four-act version, in Italian.

From the Met's web site:

For Nicholas Hytner, Verdi’s Don Carlo is no mere operatic tragedy. A sprawling epic of powerful individuals clashing with each other and with destiny in 16th-century Spain, this “ferociously pessimistic drama” is about as dark and somber as Romantic opera gets. “But what makes it so attractive,” says Hytner, who made his Met debut directing the new production that opened November 22, “is that almost every individual in it fights, with every fiber of their being, against the opposition. Nobody gives in.” Tyrannical kings, despairing princes, and innocent young women are not in short supply in the world of opera, but few works of musical theater boast a dramatis personae of such depth, complexity, and passion as Don Carlo. “Not one of these characters is prepared to accept his or her own tragic destiny,” Hytner continues. “They fight. They scream. They holler. They deny what their inevitable end will be.”

KWMU-3 is a HD channel and online service dedicated to live classical music programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our hosts guide listeners into the heart of the classical repertoire, with carefully selected music that represent both classical favorites and lesser-known masterpieces, while ensuring that every hour of music is accessible and stimulating for novices and aficionados alike.