2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcasts Start Dec. 2

Summary: The 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcasts start Dec. 2 with Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducting the Verdi Requiem.

James Levine (left) opens the 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcasts as conductor of Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi; James Levine in the Metropolitan Opera’s orchestra pit, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013, 15:26: Ralph Daily (ralph and jenny), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

The 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcasts start Dec. 2, 2017, with a concert performance of the Verdi Requiem conducted by Music Director Emeritus James Levine.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcast schedule spans 23 Saturdays. The season opener’s date of Dec. 2 is easy to remember as the second Saturday after Thanksgiving and the first Saturday in December.

The season’s final Saturday matinee radio broadcast is slated for May 5, 2018. The season closer’s date is easy to remember as the first Saturday in May. Opera administrator, conductor and singer Plácido Domingo conducts the season’s closing opera, Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod.

Dec. 2, 2017, at 1 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time): Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi

Dec. 9, 2017, at 12:30 p.m.: The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791)

Dec. 16, 2017, at 1 p.m.: Norma by Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835)

Dec. 23, 2017, at 1 p.m.: Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Mozart

Dec. 30, 2017, at 1 p.m.: The Merry Widow by Franz Léhar (April 30, 1870-Oct. 24, 1948)

Jan. 6, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (Sept. 1, 1854-Sept. 27, 1921)

Jan. 13, 2018, at 12:30 p.m.: Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (Dec. 7, 1863-Aug. 2, 1945) and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919)

Jan. 20, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Thaïs by Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912)

Jan. 27, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Tosca by Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924)

Feb. 3, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi

Feb. 10, 2018, at 12 p.m.: L’Elisir d’Amore by Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848)

Feb. 17, 2018, at 11:30 a.m.: Parsifal by Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883)

Feb. 24, 2018, at 12:30 p.m.: La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini

March 3, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini

March 10, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Semiramide by Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868)

March 17, 2018, at 1 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time): Elektra by Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949)

March 24, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Turandot by Giacomo Puccini

March 31, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Così Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Mozart

April 7, 2018, at 12:30 p.m.: Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti

April 14, 2018, at 12:30 p.m.: Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Verdi

April 21, 2018, at 1 p.m.: The Exterminating Angel by Thomas Adès (born March 1, 1971)

April 28, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Cendrillon by Jules Massenet

May 5, 2018, at 1 p.m.: Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893)

The 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcasts are hosted by Mary Jo Heath. The Norman, Oklahoma, native returns for her third season. She is the fourth host in the Saturday matinee series’ history. Her predecessors were Margaret Juntwait (March 18, 1957-June 3, 2015), Peter Allen (Sept. 17, 1920-Oct. 8, 2016) and Milton Cross (April 16, 1897-Jan. 3, 1975).

Ira Siff returns for his 11th season as on-air commentator. The native New Yorker’s debut as on-air commentator for the Metropolitan Opera’s live, international Saturday matinee radio broadcasts dates to 2007.

The takeaway for the 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcasts is that the season of 23 Saturdays starts Dec. 2, 2017, with Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducting the Verdi Requiem and ends May 5, 2018, with Plácido Domingo conducting Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.

Plácido Domingo (right) closes the 2017-2018 Met Opera season as conductor of Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod; Plácido Domingo at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Opera Honors, Harman Center for the Arts, Washington, DC, Hallowe'en, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008: Russell Hirshon/National Endowment for the Arts, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

James Levine (left) opens the 2017-2018 Met Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcasts as conductor of Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi; James Levine in the Metropolitan Opera’s orchestra pit, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013, 15:26: Ralph Daily (ralph and jenny), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Levine_2013.jpg;
Ralph Daily (ralph and jenny), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/ralphandjenny/11937897623/

Plácido Domingo (right) closes the 2017-2018 Met Opera season as conductor of Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod; Plácido Domingo at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Opera Honors, Harman Center for the Arts, Washington, DC, Hallowe'en, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008: Russell Hirshon/National Endowment for the Arts, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plácido_Domingo,_2008.jpg

For further information:

The Metropolitan Opera. “Saturday Matinee Broadcasts.” The Metropolitan Opera > Radio.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/Radio/Saturday-Matinee-Broadcasts/

Sandblast Productions @SandblastProd. “6 minutes from first Saturday broadcast of the season. Mary Jo Heath and Ira Siff ready to go!” Twitter. Dec. 5, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/SandblastProd/status/673199137672855554