Met Opera's 2022-2023 Season Has 24 Saturday Matinee Opera Broadcasts

Summary: Met Opera's 2022-2023 season has 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts, beginning Dec. 10 with the opera company's premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Hours.

The 2022-2023 Met Opera Saturday matinee opera broadcast season opens Dec. 10 with The Hours by American composer Kevin Puts; the opera's Met Opera premiere takes place Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8:00 p.m., under the conductorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Met Opera's third music director, and with principal soprano roles sung by Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato and Kelli O'Hara; directed by English stage director Phelim McDermott, the new production's look reflects the creativity of Tom Pye, set and costume designer; Bruno Poet, lighting designer; and Finn Ross, projection designer: Renee Fleming @ReneeFleming, via Twitter March 16, 2022

Met Opera's 2022-2023 season has 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts, opening Dec. 10 with the opera company's premiere of The Hours by Kevin Puts and closing June 10 with Der Fliegende Holländer by Richard Wagner.

The 2022-2023 Met Opera season's Saturday matinee broadcasts comprise 27 Saturdays. Three of the Saturdays are billed as specially themed broadcasts. The New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, program is entitled "Met Debuts On The Air" and is described as: "Highlights of artists making their Metropolitan Opera debuts during live broadcasts." The TBA (To Be Announced) program for Feb. 11 draws upon an "archival broadcast." The program for March 4, entitled "Listeners’ Choice: Great Met Broadcasts," considers a TBA opera.

The 2022-2023 Met Opera season's 23 operas and one earlier season's Saturday matinee opera broadcast fill the remaining 24 available Saturdays. Seven of the operas are staged as new productions. Three of the new productions also qualify as premieres for their operas at the Metropolitan Opera.

The start time for 19 of the 24 opera broadcasts is listed at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Earlier airings are schedule for five operas (The Magic Flute; Lohengrin; Norma; Falstaff; Der Rosenkavalier).

The 2022-2023 season's lineup of Saturday matinee opera broadcasts opens Dec. 10 at 1:00 p.m. with The Hours by Kevin Matthew Puts (born Jan. 3, 1972), an American composer who is a member of the Composition Faculty at Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Institute. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Met Opera's third music director, is the Saturday matinee broadcast season opener's conductor. The Hours adapts the same-named, 1991 novel by American novelist and screenwriter Michael Cunningham (born Nov. 6, 1952). English stage director Phelim McDermott's new production receives its Met Opera premiere Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m., two and one-half weeks prior to its prestigious placement as Saturday matinee broadcast season opener.

Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) airs in Italian Dec. 17 at 1:00 p.m. as the second of the 2022-2023 season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Speranza Scappucci is Rigoletto's conductor. The Italian conductor and pianist makes her Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m., in the first of the season's 14 performances of Rigoletto.

The Magic Flute, Met Opera's abridged, English-language, holiday adaptation of Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791), plays Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, at 12 noon as the third of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Duncan Ward conducts the holiday presentation. The British conductor's Met Opera debut Friday, Dec. 16, at 7:00 p.m., precedes his first Saturday matinee broadcast by 17 hours.

Medea by Italian Classical and Romantic composer Luigi Cherubini (Sep. 14, 1760-March 15, 1842) plays in Italian Jan. 7 at 1:00 p.m. as a recording of the seventh (Saturday, Oct. 22, at 1:00 p.m.) of the opera's eight autumn performances in the 2022-2023 season. Medea airs as the fourth of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts and as the season's first 2023 broadcast. Italian conductor Carlo Rizzi is Medea's conductor. The Greek tragedy's new production by Scottish opera and theatre director David McVicar received its Met Opera premiere Tuesday, Sep. 27, at 6:00 p.m.

Fedora by Italian composer Umberto Giordano (Aug. 28, 1867-Nov. 12, 1948) is performed in Italian Jan. 14 at 1:00 p.m. as the fifth of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts and as the season's third new production. Italian conductor Marco Armiliato is Fedora's conductor. David McVicar's second new production in the 2022-2023 season debuts New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31, at 6:30 p.m.

L'Elisir d'Amore by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848) airs in Italian Jan. 21 at 1:00 p.m. as the sixth of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Michele Gamba conducts L'Elisir d'Amore. The Italian conductor and pianist's Met Opera debut in the opera's first 2022-2023 season performance Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m. precedes his first Saturday matinee broadcast by approximately one and one-half weeks.

Dialogues des Carmélites by French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc (Jan. 7, 1899-Jan. 30, 1963) is performed in French Jan. 28 at 1:00 p.m. as the seventh of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. French conductor Bertrand de Billy occupies the conductor's podium for the French Revolution-themed opera.

A 50-year-old Saturday matinee broadcast of Verdi's Macbeth plays in Italian Feb. 4 at 1:00 p.m. as the eighth of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Italian opera conductor Francesco Molinari-Pradelli (July 4, 1911-July 8, 1996) conducted the 1972-1973 season's Saturday matinee broadcast Feb. 3, 1973.

Verdi's Don Carlo plays in Italian Feb. 18 at 1:00 p.m. as the ninth of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Italian conductor Carlo Rizzi appears in his second Saturday matinee broadcast in the 2022-2023 season.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Russian composer, librettist and pianist Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich (Sep. 25, 1906-Aug. 9, 1975) broadcasts in Russian Feb. 25 at 1:00 p.m. from an autumn performance and numbers as the 10th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Canadian operatic and symphonic conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson made her Met Opera debut in the first (Thursday, Sep. 29, at 8:00 p.m.) of the season's six autumn performances of Shostakovich's tormentous opera.

Verdi's La Traviata is performed in Italian March 11 at 1:00 p.m. as the 11th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti is La Traviata's conductor.

Lohengrin by German Romantic era composer-librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) airs in German March 18 at 12 noon as the 12th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts and as the fourth new production in the Saturday matinee lineup. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his second Saturday matinee broadcast in the 2022-2023 season. French Canadian director François Girard's new production debuts Sunday, Feb. 26, at 2:00 p.m., almost two weeks before the German Arthurian legend-themed opera's Saturday matinee broadcast.

Norma by 19th-century Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sep. 23, 1835) is performed in Italian March 25 at 12 noon as the 13th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Italian conductor Maurizio Benini conducts Bellini's tragic opera of forbidden love in Roman-occupied Gaul.

Verdi's Falstaff is performed in Italian April Fool's Day, April 1, at 12:30 p.m. as the 14th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Italian conductor Daniele Rustioni is the conductor of Verdi's Shakespeare-inspired comic opera.

Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) airs in Italian April 8 at 1:00 p.m. as the 15th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Venezuelan-Swiss conductor Domingo Hindoyan conducts Puccini's tragic love-triangled opera.

Der Rosenkavalier by German composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sep. 8, 1949) is performed in German April 15 at 12 noon as the 16th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Australian conductor Simone Young conducts the comic, love-entangled opera.

Mozart's Idomeneo plays an autumn performance in Italian for the April 22 broadcast at 1:00 p.m. and numbers as the 17th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck made his Met Opera debut in the season's first performance of the Greek mythology-themed opera Wednesday, Sep. 28, at 7:00 p.m.

Champion by American jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is performed in English April 29 at 1:00 p.m. as the 18th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Champion numbers as the season's fifth new production and third Met Opera premiere. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his third Saturday matinee broadcast in the 2022-2023 season.

Puccini's La Bohème airs in Italian May 6 at 1:00 p.m. as the 19th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his fourth of four Saturday matinee opera broadcasts of the season.

Verdi's Aida performs in Italian May 13 at 1:00 p.m. as the 20th of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Italian conductor Paolo Carignani is Aida's conductor.

Mozart's Don Giovanni is performed in Italian May 20 at 1:00 p.m. as the 21st of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts and as the season's sixth new production. French conductor and contralto Nathalie Stutzmann makes her Met Opera debut in the new production's opening night, Friday, May 5, at 7:00 p.m. American director James Robinson directs the new production of Mozart's lothario-punitive opera.

Peter Grimes by English composer, conductor and pianist by Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (Nov. 22, 1913-Dec. 4, 1976) plays an autumn performance for the May 27 broadcast at 1:00 p.m. and numbers as the 22nd of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. Australian conductor Nicholas Carter is the conductor of the sea-themed opera.

Mozart's Die Zauberflöte is performed in German June 3 at 1:00 p.m. as the 23rd of the season's 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts and as the season's seventh new production. Nathalie Stutzmann's conductorship marks the French conductor's second of two appearances in the season's Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. English director Simon McBurney directs the new production of Mozart's fairy-tale opera.

Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer performs in German June 10 at 1:00 p.m. as the last of the season's Saturday matinee opera broadcasts. German conductor and pianist Thomas Guggeis makes his Met Opera debut Tuesday, May 30, at 8:00 p.m., in the first of the season's four performances of Wagner's ghostly maritime-themed opera.

Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer is scheduled for airing June 10 as the 2022-2023 Saturday matinee opera broadcast season's closer; under the conductorship of German conductor and pianist Thomas Guggeis, South African soprano Elza van den Heever adds the opera's Senta to her Met Opera role repertoire; Thomas Guggeis, who replaces Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden, makes his Met Opera debut: Elza van den Heever, via Facebook Feb. 23, 2022

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The 2022-2023 Met Opera Saturday matinee opera broadcast season opens Dec. 10 with The Hours by American composer Kevin Puts; the opera's Met Opera premiere takes place Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 8:00 p.m., under the conductorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Met Opera's third music director, and with principal soprano roles sung by Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato and Kelli O'Hara; directed by English stage director Phelim McDermott, the new production's look reflects the creativity of Tom Pye, set and costume designer; Bruno Poet, lighting designer; and Finn Ross, projection designer: Renée Fleming, via Twitter March 16, 2022, @ https://twitter.com/ReneeFleming/status/1504162094362542082

Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer is scheduled for airing June 10 as the 2022-2023 Saturday matinee opera broadcast season's closer; under the conductorship of German conductor and pianist Thomas Guggeis, South African soprano Elza van den Heever adds the opera's Senta to her Met Opera role repertoire; Thomas Guggeis, who replaces Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden, makes his Met Opera debut: Elza van den Heever, via Facebook Feb. 23, 2022, @ https://www.facebook.com/elzavandenheever.soprano/posts/pfbid02pcqXKw9ZTFuUb7Zjxx2mBGc7UbmcBQ7QiUxytfBJa2osrV141dS4D6zVyu4WkaEsl

For further information:

"Debuts: Doey Lüthi, Jo Meredith." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357695 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Medea {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2022. (Opening Night {137} Peter Gelb General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357695

"Debuts: Keri-Lynn Wilson, Svetlana Sozdateleva, Goran Jurić, Alexey Shishlyaev, Maria Barakova, Irina Rindzuner." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357698 Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk {22} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/29/2022.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357698

"Debuts: Manfred Honeck." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357696 Idomeneo {74} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/28/2022.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357698

Elza van den Heever. "Today The Metropolitan Opera announced the 2022 / 2023 season, and I am thrilled to make my role debut as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer with an amazing cast and Maestro JaapvanZweden - not to mention the incredible MET Orchestra Musicians and Met Opera Chorus! https://www.metopera.org/…/2022-23…/der-fliegende-hollander/ Jiyang Chen." Facebook. Feb. 23, 2022.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/elzavandenheever.soprano/posts/pfbid02pcqXKw9ZTFuUb7Zjxx2mBGc7UbmcBQ7QiUxytfBJa2osrV141dS4D6zVyu4WkaEsl

Marriner, Derdriu. "Quinn Kelsey Has Tallied Nine Met Roles, Seven Operas, 90 Performances." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sep. 26, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/quinn-kelsey-has-tallied-nine-met-roles.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Quinn Kelsey Sings Amonasro, Marcello, Rigoletto at Met in 2022-2023." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sep. 19, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/09/quinn-kelsey-sings-amonasro-marcello.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Three of Seven 2022-2023 Met Opera Season New Productions Are Premieres." Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 21, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/three-of-seven-2022-2023-met-opera.html

"Matinee Broadcast: Macbeth." MetOpera Database > Met Performance] CID: 232400 Macbeth {28} Matinee Broadcast ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 02/3/1973.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=232400

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere: Medea." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357695 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Medea {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2022. (Opening Night {137} Peter Gelb General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357695

Renée Fleming. "There is just nothing in the world like being a part of a new work, especially with these artistic forces! The Hours, the new opera by the brilliant Kevin Puts, composer is arriving- first in a world premiere concert this weekend at the [sic] The Philadelphia Orchestra, and then in the premiere staged production at the [sic] The Metropolitan Opera this fall, both conducted by Yannick Nezet-Seguin! #dreamjob #newmusic." Facebook. March 15, 2022.
https://www.facebook.com/ReneeFlemingMusic/posts/pfbid0npYTeqv48WqhFhd7No9nY7jMXZGBNncTYTL43hk1ecgVBNBDjqdiJGLJmigcCTC2l

Renee Fleming @ReneeFleming. "Joy = being in at the creation of a new opera with artistic forces like these! The Hours, by the brilliant @kevin_puts, is arriving -- 1st in concert this weekend at the @philorch, and then at the @MetOpera this fall, both conducted by @nezetseguin!" Twitter. March 16, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ReneeFleming/status/1504162094362542082

Salazar, Francisco. "Metropolitan Opera Announces Conductor Change for ‘Der Fliegende Holländer.'" OperaWire. March 25, 2022.
Available @ https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-announces-conductor-change-for-der-fliegende-hollander/