Anna Netrebko Stars in the Met's Saturday Matinee Broadcast and HD Transmission of Massenet's "Manon"

Photo by Mary Altaffer/Associated Press
St. Louis Public Radio will carry the Met Opera broadcast of Massenet’s Manon on their HD channel, KWMU-3 beginning at 11 a.m. Note one hour earlier than usual start time. Approximate running time 3 hours, 40 minutes, with intermissions at approximately 12:10 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

The Met says:

Anna Netrebko’s dazzling portrayal of the tragic heroine in Laurent Pelly’s new production travels to the Met from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Piotr Beczala and Paulo Szot also star, with the Met’s Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi on the podium.

In a March 27, 2012, review in the New York Times, Anthony Tommasini writes:

Massenet’s Manon clings to a place in the standard repertory, though just barely. It is a popular but problematic work. The title role of an alluring French girl from a small town with a fatal attraction to riches and pleasures has long been an irresistible vehicle for a star soprano.

The great and glamorous Anna Netrebko makes Manon her own in the inconsistently effective new production that opened at the Metropolitan Opera on Monday night, directed by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Fabio Luisi. Ms. Netrebko, who opened the Met’s season starring in a new production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, may not have the light lyric coloratura voice of some classic Manons, and her singing was not flawless. But with her rich, gleaming sound and vocal charisma, she was a Manon of rare intensity and emotional depth.

The High Definition transmission of Manon will be presented at AMC Esquire 7, 6706 Clayton Road; St. Louis Mills 18; 5555 Saint Louis Mills Boulevard; AMC Chesterfield 14, 3000 Chesterfield Mall; O'Fallon 14, 900 Caledonia Drive; and The Hett, McKendree College, 701 College Road, Lebanon, IL. Click here to buy tickets.