L’Amour de Loin Is the Dec. 10, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Dec. 10, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is L’Amour de Loin, a five-act opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.

Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin airs as the Dec. 10, 2016, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: The New York Times @nytimes, via Twitter Dec. 2, 2016

L’Amour de Loin (“Love From Afar”), a five-act opera concerning a medieval legend about impossible love and welcome death by Paris, France-based, Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (born Oct. 14, 1952), is the Dec. 10, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

Lebanese-born French writer Amin Maalouf (born Feb. 25, 1949) wrote the original French libretto. The literary source is a biographical sketch (vida breve) and verses by Jaufré Rudel, a 12th century Occitanian troubadour who was also Prince of Blaye in southwestern France’s traditional region of Aquitaine.

The premiere took place Aug. 15, 2000. The venue was the Salzburg Festival in Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). L’Amour de Loin numbered among 12 operas that were performed at the Salzburg Festival between July 23, and Aug. 31, 2000. Located in Bavaria, northwestern Germany, Salzburg officially inaugurated its now world-famous annual festival of drama and music Aug. 22, 1920.

Kaija Saariaho and her librettist honor the time and place settings of Rudel’s La Vida Breve. L’Amour de Loin takes place in the 12th century. Events unfold in Jaufré Rudel’s Principality of Blaye in southwestern France, on the Mediterranean Sea and in the County of Tripoli, the last of the Crusader feudal states created by Western European crusaders.

The appearance of L’Amour de Loin, which opens Dec. 1, 2016,  on the 2016-2017 season roster marks the opera’s Metropolitan Opera debut.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of L’Amour de Loin begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 2 hours 33 minutes. The performance, sung in the original French, comprises five acts and one intermission.

Acts I and II occur without intermission. Act I is timed at 20 minutes. Act II is timed at 24 minutes.

Act III is timed at 22 minutes A 30-minute intermission follows Act III.

An intermission does not separate Acts IV and V. Act IV is timed at 23 minutes. Act V is timed at 34 minutes. The Saturday matinee broadcast performance ends with Act V’s final notes.

Susanna Mälkki conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of L’Amour de Loin. Her birthplace is Helsinki, Uusimaa, southern Finland. The Finnish conductor’s appearance on L’Amour de Loin’s conductor podium marks her Metropolitan Opera debut.

Eric Owens appears as Jaufré Rudel, who travels across the Mediterranean Sea to die in the arms of Countess Clémence of Tripoli, his idealized love who turns out to be real. He was born in Philadelphia, southeastern Pennsylvania. The American operatic bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008 as General Groves in Doctor Atomic by contemporary American composer John Coolidge Adams (born Feb. 15, 1947). This season Eric Owens also appears as the Voice of Neptune in Mozart’s Idomeneo and as the Water Spirit in Rusalka by Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904).

Eric Owens shares the role of Jaufré Rudel this season with Michael Todd Simpson. Eric Owens appears in most of the opera’s December performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast.

Michael Todd Simpson appears in the Dec. 24 performance. His birthplace is Gastonia, Gaston County, southwestern North Carolina. The American operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009 as Hermann/Schlémil in Les Contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880). Michael Todd Simpson also appears this season as Escamillo in Carmen by Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875) and as Leuthold in Guillaume Tell by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Susanna Phillips appears as Countess Clémence of Tripoli, who is the realization of Jaufré Rudel’s idealized woman. She was born in Huntsville, Madison County, northeastern Alabama. The American lyric soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2008 as Musetta in La Bohème by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). This season Susanna Phillips reprises her Met debut role for the 2016-2017 season’s production of La Bohème.

Tamara Mumford appears as the Pilgrim, who identifies Jaufré Rudel’s ideal woman as Countess Clémence of Tripoli and then serves as messenger between the prince-troubadour and his true love. Tamara Mumford’s birthplace is Taber, southern Alberta, western Canada, The Canadian mezzo-soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006 as Laura in Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Operabase, an online database, places Kaija Saariaho at number 174 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. L’Amour de Loin places at 445 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The takeaway for L’Amour de Loin as the Dec. 10, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is the enduring appeal of medieval European troubadours’ extolling of impossible love and welcoming death.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin during the 2016-2017 season marks the opera house's second staging of a female composer's opera: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Nov. 18, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin airs as the Dec. 10, 2016, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: The New York Times @nytimes, via Twitter Dec. 2, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/804699406209609728

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin during the 2016-2017 season marks the opera house's second staging of a female composer's opera: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Nov. 18, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10157876623165533/

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Metropolitan Opera. “L’Amour de Loin: Trailer.” YouTube. Nov. 30, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkhaI6Nv-8Y

Metropolitan Opera. “Robert Lepage on his New Production of L’Amour de Loin.” YouTube. June 10, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCTbTJz0XVs

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Check out an early stage rehearsal of the new production of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin, opening Dec 1! Eric Owens, Susanna Phillips, Soprano, Tamara Mumford. Conductor Susanna Mälkki is on the podium. bit.ly/2elE4ug Photos by Jonathan Tichler/Met Opera." Facebook. Nov. 18, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10157876623165533/

Michael Cooper @coopnytimes. "I spoke with Robert Lepage about using 28,000 LEDs for Kaija Saariaho's shimmering 'L'Amour de Loin' @MetOpera." Twitter. Nov. 30, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/coopnytimes/status/804073513682423808

The New York Times @nytimes. "For the first time in over 100 years, the Metropolitan Opera is presenting an opera composed by a woman." Twitter. Dec. 2, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/804699406209609728

The New Yorker @NewYorker. "Kaija Saariaho is the first female composer to have a work performed at the @MetOpera for more than a century." Twitter. Nov. 24, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/801971182945898496

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml