Tosca Is Met Opera's Dec. 11, 2021, Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: Tosca is Met Opera's Dec. 11, 2021, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as the second of the 2021-2022 season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts.

The 2021-2022 season's second revival of Sir David McVicar's staging of Puccini's Tosca, which debuted in the 2017-2018 season, features second reprisals by Sondra Radvanovsky (Tosca), Željko Lučić (Scarpia) and Patrick Carfizzi (Sacristan) and first reprisal by Joseph Calleja (Cavaradossi): The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 24, 2017

Puccini's Tosca is Met Opera's Dec. 11, 2021, Saturday matinee broadcast, scheduled as the second the 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season.

Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) receives 15 performances in the 2021-2022 season. Met Opera offers 15 winter performances, with five in December and six in January, and four spring performances in March. Of the three casts, the December team perform in the Dec. 11 Saturday matinee opera broadcast.

The season's first performance of Tosca took place Thursday, Dec. 2, at 7:00 p.m. The month's four additional performances are scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 5, at 3:00 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 11, at 1:00 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 15, at 7:00 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 18, at 8:00 p.m.

The opera's sixth through 11th performances will be offered in January. The month's six performances are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 8, at 8:00 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 14, at 7:00 p.m.; Monday, Jan. 17, at 7:00 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 21, at 7:00 p.m.; Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 7:00 p.m.; and Saturday, Jan. 29, at 8:30 p.m.

The opera's 12th through 15th, closing performances will take place in March. The month's four performances are scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, March 5, at 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday, March 9, at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, March 12, at 8:00 p.m.

The 2021-2022 season's presentation of Tosca represents the second revival of the new production debuted in the 2017-2018 season by Sir David McVicar. The Scottish opera and theatre director had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, in the opera company's 600th performance of Il Trovatore by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the opera's December performances, including the Dec. 11 Saturday matinee opera broadcast as well as the March performances. Met Opera's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, in the opera company's 946th performance of Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875).

Yannick Nézet-Séguin shares the conductorship with Carlo Rizzi, who conducts the second revival's January performances as his first reprisal of the production's conductorship since the production's first revival. The Italian conductor had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 29, 1993, in the opera company’s 989th performance of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Sondra Radvanovsky originally was scheduled to sing the title role in all five of December's performances. Her appearance in the month's first four performances mark her second reprisal of the role in Sir David's production. The American-Canadian soprano had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Dec. 9, 1996, as Countess Ceprano in the opera company’s 721st performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto.

The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter, Saturday, Dec. 18, 2021, that Iulia Isaev would replace Sondra Radvanovsky as Tosca in the evening's performance. The Romanian soprano reprises the role in which she had made her Met Opera debut. Iulia Isaev had replaced ill Jennifer Rowley in Tosca's 973rd Met Opera performance Monday, March 18, 2019.

December's Toscas share the title role with Russian soprano Elena Stikhina, January's Tosca, and Polish operatic soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, March's Tosca. Elena Stikhina had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, in the title role in the opera company's 80th performance of Puccini's Suor Angelica. Aleksandra Kurzak had made her Met Opera debut Friday, Dec. 10, 2004, as Olympia in the opera company’s 233rd performance of Les Contes d’Hoffmann by German-born French composer Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880).

Brian Jagde sings December's Cavaradossi to Sondra Radvanovsky's Tosca. The American operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, April 3, 2014, as Count Elemer in the opera company’s 53rd performance of Arabella by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949).

Tosca numbers as the first of two Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Brian Jagde. He sings Pinkerton in the April 30, 2022, Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Brian Jagde shares the role with Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja, January's Cavaradossi to Elena Stikhina's Tosca, and Roberto Alagna, March's Cavaradossi to his wife, Aleksandra Kurzak, as Tosca. Joseph Calleja, who makes his first reprisal in the production's role, had made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006, as the Duke of Mantua in the opera company’s 806th performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Evgeny Nikitin originally was scheduled to sing December's Scarpia, Cavaradossi's Tosca-fixated nemesis. The Russian bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002, as Lieutenant Dolokhov in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of War and Peace by Soviet composer, conductor and pianist Sergei Prokofiev (April 23, 1891-March 5, 1953).

The Metropolitan Opera announced, via Twitter Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, that George Gagnidze, who originally was scheduled as January's Scarpia, would replace ill Evgeny Nikitin as December's Scarpia. The Georgian operatic baritone had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009, in the title role in the opera company’s 817th performance of Verdi's Rigoletto.

As December's and January's Scarpia, George Gagnidze, shares the role with Serbian operatic baritone Željko Lučić, who makes his second reprisal in the production role as March's Scarpia. Željko Lučić had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006, as Barnaba in the opera company’s 275th performance of La Gioconda by 19th-century Italian opera composer Amilcare Ponchielli (Aug. 31, 1834-Jan. 16, 1886).

Patrick Carfizzi makes his second reprisal of the production's role of Sacristan in all of the second revival's performances. The American bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Christmas Eve, Friday, Dec. 24, 1999, as Count Ceprano in the opera company’s 736th performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Tosca numbers as the first of three Saturday matinee opera broadcasts in the 2021-2022 season for Patrick Carfizzi. He sings the Speaker in the Dec. 18 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of The Magic Flute, the abridged English-language version of Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). He also sings a Lackey in the March 12 Saturday matinee opera broadcast of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos.

Sir David McVicar's staging of Puccini's Tosca debuted as a new production, during Met Opera's New Year's Eve Gala, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, in the opera's 951st performance by the opera company. Sir David's production team comprises John Macfarlane, set and costume designer; David Finn, lighting designer; and Leah Hausman, movement director. Scottish designer John Macfarlane had made his Met Opera debut Christmas Eve, Monday, Dec. 24, 2007, in the opera company's 240th performance of Hänsel und Gretel by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck (Sept. 1, 1854-Sept. 27, 1921). American lighting designer David Finn had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, in the opera company's 289th performance of Parsifal by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883). American choreographer Leah Hausman had made her Met Opera debut Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, alongside Sir David, in the opera house's 600th performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Tosca's insertion into Met Opera's repertoire dates to the opera's United States premiere Monday, Feb. 4, 1901, at the Metropolitan Opera House. In the 1900-1901 season, Tosca received seven performances.

The takeaways for Tosca as Met Opera's Dec. 11, 2021, Saturday matinee broadcast are that the tragic opera airs as the second of the 2021-2022 season's Saturday matinee opera broadcasts; that the 2021-2022 season's presentation represents the second revival of the new production debuted in the 2017-2018 season by Sir David McVicar; that the second revival's 15 performances are distributed as 11 winter (five in December; six in January) and four spring, in March, performances; that the second revival features second reprisals for Sondra Radvanovsky, Željko Lučić and Patrick Carfizzi and first reprisal for Joseph Calleja in the McVicar production's roles of Tosca, Scarpia, the Sacristan and Cavaradossi, respectively; and that Tosca numbers as the first of two 2021-2022 season Saturday matinee opera broadcasts for Brian Jagde and as the first of three for Patrick Carfizzi.

Sondra Radvanovsky receives applause after sixth performance, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, of first revival of Sir David McVicar's production of Puccini's Tosca; Tosca costume designed by John Macfarlane: William Maselli, via Facebook Nov. 18, 2018

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

The 2021-2022 season's second revival of Sir David McVicar's staging of Puccini's Tosca, which debuted in the 2017-2018 season, features second reprisals by Sondra Radvanovsky (Tosca), Željko Lučić (Scarpia) and Patrick Carfizzi (Sacristan) and first reprisal by Joseph Calleja (Cavaradossi): The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 24, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159885463140533

Sondra Radvanovsky receives applause after sixth performance, Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, of first revival of Sir David McVicar's production of Puccini's Tosca; Tosca costume designed by John Macfarlane: William Maselli, via Facebook Nov. 18, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155837724545857&set=t.100044202260899&type=3; @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155837724545857%2F100044202260899

For further information:

Boerger, Angela Marroy. "Illustrated Synopsis: Tosca." Illustrations by Sophie Hogarth. Met Opera > Discover > Education > Illustrated Synopses.
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“Debut: Aleksandra Kurzak.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351104 Les Contes d'Hoffmann {233} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/10/2004.
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“Debut: Carlo Rizzi.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 314310 > La Bohème {989} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/29/1993.
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"Debut: Elena Stikhina." MetOpera Database > Met Performance] CID: 357081 Il Trittico {80} Il Tabarro {86} Suor Angelica {80} Gianni Schicchi {144} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/12/2018.
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“Debut: George Gagnidze.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352823 Rigoletto {817} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/27/2009.
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“Debuts: Alastair Miles, Sondra Radvanovsky, Lee Hamilton.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID:326720 Rigoletto {721} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/9/1996.
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"Debuts: Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Oleg Balashov, Frank Dellapolla, Sergey Murzaev, Evgeny Nikitin, Mzia Nioradze, Trevor Kaplan-Newman, Christopher Dumont, Roy Stevens, Stefan Szkafarowsky, Peter Volpe, Warren Adams, Leonid Lyubavin, Kelly Ebsary, Mikhail Petrenko, Gints Berzins, Craig Hart, Robert Baker, Steven Tharp, Andrei Konchalovsky, Tatiana Noginova, Elaine McCarthy, Eugene Monakhov, Sergei Gritsay." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 350257 Metropolitan Opera Premiere War and Peace {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/14/2002.
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“Debuts: Christopher Wheeldon, Holly Hynes, Zeljko Lucic, Ricardo Lugo, Letizia Giuliani, Angel Corella, Christian Jeong.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351556 La Gioconda {275} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/26/2006.
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"Debuts: David McVicar, Charles Edwards, Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leah Hausman." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353605 New Production Il Trovatore {600} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/16/2009.
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“Debuts: Ekaterina Siurina, Joseph Calleja, Friedrich Haider.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351611 Rigoletto {806} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/25/2006.
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"Debuts: François Girard, Thibault Vancraenenbroeck, David Finn, Peter Flaherty, Serge Lamothe, Lauren McNeese, Jennifer Forni, Heather Johnson, Mario Chang, Rúni Brattaberg, Kiera Duffy." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354861 New Production Parsifal {289} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/15/2013.
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"Debuts: Michael Volle, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Juliane Banse, Roberto Saccà, Brian Jagde, Martin Winkler, Scott Dispensa." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355411 Arabella {53} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/03/2014.
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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2021/11/met-operas-2021-2022-season-has-28.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Music Director Emeritus James Levine Adds Tosca to 2017-2018 Roster." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sep. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/music-director-emeritus-james-levine.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/01/tosca-is-jan-27-2018-met-opera-saturday.html

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Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "For the upcoming performances of Puccini's Tosca December 2–18, the role of Scarpia will be sung by George Gagnidze, replacing Evgeny Nikitin, who is ill. #CastChange." Twitter. Nov. 30, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1465776630857613326

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "For this evening’s performance of Puccini’s Tosca, the role of Tosca will be performed by Iulia Isaev, replacing Sondra Radvanovsky. #CastChange." Twitter. Dec. 18, 2021.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1472246489829281800

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "In light of the circumstances involving the coronavirus and in consultation with the Office of the Mayor of New York City, we regret to inform our audience that all Met performances have been canceled through March 31, including tonight’s planned performance of La Cenerentola. This Saturday’s Live in HD cinema presentation of Der Fliegende Holländer has also been canceled. Thank you for your understanding. Learn More: www.metopera.org/updates." Facebook. March 12, 2020.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/10163327604920533

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Inside the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Željko Lučić takes center stage as Scarpia with the Met Opera Chorus in this early stage rehearsal of Tosca. Set and costume designer John Macfarlane visited the iconic church in Rome to research his scenic design for the new production. Tosca opens Dec 31. bit.ly/2oZSbym Photo by Jonathan Tichler/Met Opera." Facebook. Dec. 24, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159885463140533

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Tosca rehearsal are underway! Sir David McVicar's sumptuous new production of Puccini's masterpiece will ring in the new year on Dec 31 starring SONYA YONCHEVA, Vittorio Grigolo, and Željko Lučić. Emmanuel Villaume conducts. bit.ly/2oZSbym Photos by Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Dec. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159855417050533/

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William Maselli. "Tosca Met, NYC November 13, 2018 -- with Sondra Radvanovsky." Facebook. Nov. 18, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155837724545857&set=t.100044202260899&type=3