Guillaume Tell Is March 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The March 18, 2017, Metropolitan Saturday matinee broadcast is Guillaume Tell, a four-act dramatic, grand opera by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini.

Rossini's Guillaume Tells airs as the March 18, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Oct. 18, 2016

Guillaume Tell, a four-act dramatic, grand opera concerning Switzerland’s fabled medieval arbalist, or crossbowman, by Italian composer Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868), is the March 18, 2017, Metropolitan Saturday matinee broadcast.

French dramatist Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy (Oct. 19, 1764-Sept. 4, 1846) collaborated with French librettist and playwright Hippolyte Louis Florent Bis (Aug. 29, 1789-March 3, 1855) in writing the opera’s French libretto. The literary source is Wilhelm Tell, a dramatic play concerning the legendary Swiss freedom fighter written in 1804 by one of late 18th century Germany’s literary giants, Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (Nov. 10, 1759-May 9, 1805).

The world premiere of Guillaume Tell took place Aug. 3, 1829. The venue was Salle Le Peletier. Sited on the Right Bank at 12, rue Le Peletier in 9e arrondissement de Paris (Paris’s 9th arrodissement), the opera house staged Guillaume Tell as its fourth premiere of an opera by Gioacchino Rossini.

Guillaume Tell was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1884. The last production occurred in 1931. Productions from 1884 to 1931 were either in German or in Italian. The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera production, under the direction of French-Lebanese theatre director Pierre Audi, honors the opera’s original French libretto.

The Swiss folk hero is said to have lived in the late 13th or early 14th century. The opera is set in Austrian-occupied Switzerland, along the shore of Lake Lucerne in the central Swiss canton of Uri.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Guillaume Tell begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 4 hours 34 minutes.

The opera, sung in the original Italian, comprises three acts and two intermissions. Act I is timed for 70 minutes. A 30-minute intermission succeeds Act I.

Acts II is timed for 108 minutes. A 40-minute intermission follows Act II.

Act III is timed for 26 minutes. The opera ends with Act III’s final notes.

Fabio Luisi conducts all of the Metropolitan Opera’s performances of Guillaume Tell. His birthplace is Genoa, Italy. The Italian conductor debuted in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2005 production of Don Carlo by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). This season Fabio Luisi also conducts Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Gerald Finley appears in the title role. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, eastern Canada. The Canadian operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1998 as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

Maria Zifchak appears as Hedwige, Guillaume’s wife. Her birthplace is Smithtown, Suffolk County, Long Island’s North Shore, southeastern New York. The American mezzo-soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2000 as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). This season she appears in five other productions: as the Old Shepherdess in Jenufa by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928); as the Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute; as Giovanna in Verdi’s Rigoletto; as a Slave in Salome by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949); as Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata.

Janai Brugger appears as Jemmy, Guillaume’s steely-nerved son. She was born in Darien, DuPage County, northeastern Illinois. The American operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 as Liù in Puccini’s Turandot. This season Janai Brugger also appears as Micaëla in Carmen by Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875) and as Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

Marina Rebeka appears as Mathilde, a Habsburg princess who shares a conflicted love with Arnold, a Swiss subject. Her birthplace is Riga, Latvia. The Latvian operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2011 as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Marina Rebeka also appears as Donna Elvira in this season’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Bryan Hymel appears as Arnold Melcthal, conflicted son of a canton elder. He was born in New Orleans, southeastern Louisiana. The American operatic tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012 as Aeneas in Les Troyens by French Romantic composer Hector Berlioz (Dec. 11, 1803-March 8, 1869). He shares the role of Arnold with American operatic tenor John Osborn. Born in Sioux City, Woodbury and Plymouth counties, northwestern Iowa, John Osborn debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1996 as the Fourth Jew in Strauss’s Salome.

Kwangchul Youn appears as Arnold’s father. His birthplace is Chung Ju, North Chungcheong province, central South Korea. The South Korean operatic bass debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 as Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. This season he also appears as the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

John Relyea appears as Gesler, the canton’s unpopular Austrian governor. He was born in Toronto, southern Ontario, east central Canada. The Canadian operatic bass-baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2000 as Alidoro in Rossini’s Le Cenerentola.

Marco Spotti makes his debut at the Metropolitan Opera this season in the role of Guillaume Tell’s friend and fellow Swiss patriot, Walter Furst. The operatic bass’s birthplace is Parma, Emilia-Romagna, northeastern Italy.

Operabase, an online database, reveals that in the five seasons from 2011/12 to 2015/16, Gioacchino Rossini was the fifth most popular composer, with 5,070 performances worldwide of his operas. Also, La Traviata places at 153, with 121 performances worldwide, in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Guillaume Tell places at number 108. The opera's Metropolitan Opera debut took place Nov. 28, 1884. Prior to the 2016-2017 season, the Metropolitan Opera last staged Guillaume Tell in 1931.

The mystery of Guillaume Tell is its status within Gioacchino Rossini’s operatic output. As noted by Washington University Professor Emeritus Hugh Macdonald in the Metropolitan Opera’s Program Note, “Guillaume Tell was Rossini’s 39th opera, and his last. He still had 39 years to live -- more than half his life -- but he never wrote another.”

The takeaway for Guillaume Tell as the March 18, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is its trio of attractions: epitome of the rousing music and spectacular visual elements of grand opera; presentation of original French libretto; status as the last opera by Gioacchino Rossini.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season debuts French-Lebanese theatre director Pierre Audi's new staging of Rossini's Guillaume Tell: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Oct. 14, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Rossini's Guillaume Tells airs as the March 18, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2016-2017 Met Opera season: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Oct. 18, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/788437957770289152

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season debuts French-Lebanese theatre director Pierre Audi's new staging of Rossini's Guillaume Tell: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Oct. 14, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10157693280775533.1073741913.20807115532/10157693281840533/

For further information:

Berger, William. “Sounds of Revolution.” The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles > Featured Articles.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/Discover/Articles/Featured-Articles/sounds-of-revolution/

"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

“Gioachino Rossini Guillaume Tell.” The Metropolitan Opera > Season 2016-17 > Operas > In Focus. Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2016-17/operas/guillaume_tell/programs/111216%20Tell.pdf

“Guillaume Tell.” Stanford University Opera Glass > Rossini.
Available @ http://opera.stanford.edu/Rossini/GuillaumeTell/livret.html

Macdonald, Hugh. “Program Note.” The Metropolitan Opera > Season 2016-17 > Operas. Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/metoperafiles/season/2016-17/operas/guillaume_tell/programs/111216%20Tell.pdf

Metropolitan Opera. “Guillaume Tell: Trailer.” YouTube. Oct. 24, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW3KQvDJkw0

Metropolitan Opera. "Pierre Audi on His New Production of Guillaume Tell." YouTube. Feb. 17, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AGHbs0A41g

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "The new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell opens Oct 18! Back on the Met stage for the first time in over 80 years, Official Gerald Finley stars as Tell, alongside Marina Rebeka, Bryan Hymel, Janai Brugger, and Maria Zifchak. Fabio Luisi conducts. http://bit.ly/2dpmCYQ Photos by Marty Sohl/Met Opera." Facebook. Oct. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10157693280775533.1073741913.20807115532/10157693281840533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Tonight: Rossini’s #GuillaumeTell opens!” Twitter. Oct. 18, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/788437957770289152

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

Schiller, Friedrich. Wilhelm Tell. Tübingen, Germany: Cotta, 1804.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/wilhelmtellscha07schigoog