The Hours by Kevin Puts Is Dec. 10, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Hours by Kevin Puts is the Dec. 10, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as the first of the 2022-2023 season's 24 Saturday radio broadcasts.

The Met Opera premiere of The Hours in the 2022-2023 season adds American composer Kevin Puts (upper photo; center, lower photo) as a new composer to the opera company's repertoire, contributes a new opera to Met Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin's (right, lower photo) Met Opera portfolio and adds a new opera and a new role, as Virginia Woolf, to American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's (left, lower photo) Met Opera portfolio: Kevin Puts, composer, via Facebook Nov. 22, 2022

The Hours by Kevin Puts is the Dec. 10, 2022, Saturday matinee broadcast, airing at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time as the opener for the 2022-2023 Met Opera season's lineup of 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts.

The Hours by American composer Kevin Matthew Puts (born Jan. 3, 1972) adapts the same-named novel published in 1998 by American novelist and screenwriter Michael Cunningham (born November 6, 1952). Mrs. Dalloway by English modernist 20th century writer Virginia Woolf (Adeline Virginia Stephen; Jan. 25, 1882-March 28, 1941) inspired Cunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

The Hours receives eight performances in Met Opera's 2022-2023 season. The opera's opening performance, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at 8:00 p.m., marked its Metropolitan Opera premiere. The second through fifth performances took place Friday, Nov. 25, at 8:00 p.m.; Monday, Nov. 28, at 8:00 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7:00 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 4, at 3:00 p.m. The sixth performance is offered Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. The opera's Saturday matinee opera broadcast numbers as its seventh performance in the 2022-2023 season. The Hours closes with its eighth performance, Thursday, Dec. 15, at 7:00 p.m.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the first seven performances of The Hours. Met Opera's third 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 Kensho Watanabe. The Japanese-American conductor and violinist conducts the opera's eighth, closing performance as his Met Opera debut.

Renée Fleming sings late 20th century, reminiscing Manhattanite Clarissa Vaughan in all eight performances. The American soprano had made her Met Opera debut Saturday, March 16, 1991, as the Countess in the opera company's 323rd performance of Le Nozze di Figaro by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Kelli O'Hara appears in all eight performances as Laura Brown, 1949 Los Angeles-based housewife and mother whose reading of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway proves cathartic for her fears and insecurities. The Broadway and opera American soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, as Valencienne in the opera company's New Year's Eve Gala and 27th performance of The Merry Widow by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár (April 30, 1870-Oct. 24, 1948).

Joyce DiDonato sings 1923 Richmond, England-based, mentally troubled, Mrs. Dalloway-writing Virginia Woolf in all eight performances. The American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2005, in the trouser role of Cherubino in the opera company’s 419th performance of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

Kathleen Kim appears in all eight performances in two roles, as Barbara the florist and as Mrs. Latch, babysitter of Laura Brown's son, Richie. The South Korean operatic coloratura soprano had made her Met Opera debut Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007, as Barbarina in the opera company's 430th performance of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

Sylvia D’Eramo sings two roles, as Virginia Woolf's sister, Vanessa Bell, and as Laura Brown's neighbor Kitty, in all eight performances. The American soprano made her Met Opera debut Friday, Dec. 31, 2021, as Countess Ceprano in the opera company's 899th performance of Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Denyce Graves originally was scheduled to sing Sally, Clarissa's partner, in all eight performances. The American mezzo-soprano had made her Met Opera debut Saturday, Oct. 7, 1995, in the title role in the opera company’s 828th performance of Bizet's Carmen.

Update: Denyce Graves has been rescheduled to share the role of Sally. Per the Metropolitan Opera's Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, tweet, Eve Gigliotti sings Sally for the day's 3:00 p.m. performance. The American mezzo-soprano had made her Met Opera debut Wednesday, April 28, 2010, as Mercédès in the opera company's 958th performance of Bizet's Carmen.

John Holiday appears in all eight performances in two roles, as the Hotel Clerk at the hotel where Laura Brown contemplates suicide by pills and reads Mrs. Dalloway and as the mysterious Man Under the Arch. The American countertenor had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, as Orpheus’s Double in the opera company's sixth performance of Eurydice by American composer, conductor and pianist Matthew Aucoin (born April 4, 1990).

William Burden sings Louis, ex-boyfriend of Clarissa's AIDS-afflicted best friend Richard, in all eight performances. The American tenor had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Jan. 11, 1996, as Janek in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of The Makropulos Case by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928).

Sean Panikkar appears in all eight performances as Virginia Woolf's husband, Leonard. The Sri Lankan-American operatic tenor had made his Met Opera debut Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008, as Edmondo in the opera company's 208th performance of Manon Lescaut by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Kyle Ketelsen sings Richard, Clarissa's best friend, who is dying from AIDS, in all eight performances. The American bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Saturday, April 22, 2006, as Angelotti in the opera company’s 874th performance of Puccini’s Tosca.

Brandon Cedel appears in all eight performances as Laura Brown's husband, Dan. The American bass-baritone had made his Met Opera debut Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, as a Watchman in the opera company's 60th performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten by German composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sep. 8, 1949).

The 2022-2023 Met Opera season's next Saturday matinee opera broadcast is scheduled for Dec. 17. Verdi's Rigoletto airs Dec. 17 at 1:00 p.m. as the 2022-2023 Met Opera season's second of 24 Saturday matinee opera broadcasts.

American composer Kevin Puts credits American soprano Renée Fleming, both Eastman School of Music alumni, with suggesting that he operatize Michael Cunningham's The Hours; photo of Kevin Puts by David Whitee: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Nov. 28, 2022

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The Met Opera premiere of The Hours in the 2022-2023 season adds American composer Kevin Puts (upper photo; center, lower photo) as a new composer to the opera company's repertoire, contributes a new opera to Met Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin's (right, lower photo) Met Opera portfolio and adds a new opera and a new role, as Virginia Woolf, to American lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's (left, lower photo) Met Opera portfolio: Kevin Puts, composer, via Facebook Nov. 22, 2022, @ https://www.facebook.com/KevinPutsMusic/posts/pfbid02hLmu2funJkQRLrx1RM5G4XsD299HDsAbMrgMZUUFD7CYG8qJ77YaLLYbRLtctrD6l

American composer Kevin Puts credits American soprano Renée Fleming, both Eastman School of Music alumni, with suggesting that he operatize Michael Cunningham's The Hours; photo of Kevin Puts by David White: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Nov. 28, 2022, @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1597276406865858561

For further information:

Browner, Christopher. "Time Traveler." The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles.
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"Debut: Eve Gigliotti." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353518 Carmen {958} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/28/2010.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353518

"Debut: John Holiday." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357527 Eurydice {6} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/11/2021.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357527

“Debut: Kyle Ketelsen.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351503 Tosca {874} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/22/2006.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351503

"Debut: Renée Fleming." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 303730 Le Nozze di Figaro {323} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/16/1991.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=303730

"Debut: Sean Panikkar." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352319 Manon Lescaut {208} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/29/2008. Sirius Broadcast live.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352319

"Debuts: Anke Vondung, Robin Leggate, Kathleen Kim, Ashley Emerson." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352076 Le Nozze di Figaro {430} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/02/2007. Sirius Broadcast live.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352076

"Debuts: Anne Schwanewilms, Nathan Stark, Anthony Kalil, Jihee Kim, Megan Marino, Danielle Talamantes, Jeongcheol Cha, Brandon Cedel, Andrey Nemzer, Matt Gibson." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355114 Die Frau ohne Schatten {60} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/07/2013. Metropolitan Opera Radio Sirius XM channel 74 Broadcast live.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355114

“Debuts: Denyce Graves, Barbara Frittoli, Richard Bernstein.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 322060 Carmen {828} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/07/1995.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=322060

“Debuts: Mark Wigglesworth, Maurizio Muraro, Joyce DiDonato, Wendy Bryn Harmer, Leann Sandel-Pantaleo.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351338 Le Nozze di Figaro {419} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/02/2005.
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"Debuts: Susan Stroman, William Ivey Long, Kelli O'Hara, Gary Simpson, Carson Elrod, Synthia Link, Alison Mixon, Emily Pynenburg, Leah Hofmann, Jenny Laroche, Catherine Hamilton." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355727 New Production The Merry Widow {27} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2014. Broadcast/Streamed New Year's Eve Gala.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355727

"Debuts: Sylvia D'Eramo, Varduhi Abrahamyan." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357544 New Production Rigoletto {899} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2021. Broadcast/Streamed.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357544

“Debuts: William Burden, David Robertson, Anthony Ward, Dona Granata, Howard Harrison.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 322990 The Makropulos Case {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/11/1996.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=322990

"Debuts: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Richard Eyre, Rob Howell, Irene Bohan, Elizabeth Caballero, Maria Kowroski, Martin Harvey." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353274 New Production Carmen {946} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2009. Sirius and XM Metropolitan Opera Broadcast New Year's Eve Gala.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355517

Kevin Puts, composer. "Tonight's the night! I'm so honored for The Metropolitan Opera to give the world premiere of Greg Pierce and my new opera 'The Hours,' with the phenomenal talents of Renée Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves-Montgomery, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and so many others, with visionary direction by Phelim McDermott. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible. It's a dream come true. Photo credit: Jonathan Tichler/ Met Opera." Facebook. Nov. 22, 2022.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/KevinPutsMusic/posts/pfbid02hLmu2funJkQRLrx1RM5G4XsD299HDsAbMrgMZUUFD7CYG8qJ77YaLLYbRLtctrD6l

Marriner, Derdriu. "Met Opera's 2022-2023 Season Has 24 Saturday Matinee Opera Broadcasts." Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 28, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/11/met-operas-2022-2023-season-has-24.html

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Available @ https://classicalpost.com/read/2018/10/21/kevin-puts-silent-night

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Every person’s voice is different, so it helps to have a close collaboration where I can really understand every nuance of the singer’s approach and technique—and then combine that with my own voice.” — @Kevin_Puts on composing The Hours. Read more: https://bit.ly/3GXxL1f." Twitter. Nov. 28, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1597276406865858561

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "In today’s performance of Kevin Puts's The Hours, the role of Sally will be sung by Eve Gigliotti. #castchange." Twitter. Dec. 4, 2022.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1599437923178274818

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Available @ https://www.philorch.org/the-hours

The Philadelphia Orchestra. "The Philadelphia Orchestra is at The Kimmel Cultural Campus. What do you get when you add two and a half hours of opera, 612 pages of orchestral score, 19 characters, and a timespan of 80 years? The Philadelphia Inquirer stopped by to find out. Read a preview of The Hours, coming to Verizon Hall this weekend." Facebook. March 17, 2022.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/PhilOrch/posts/pfbid0FbKxeQovHZ9DBj8emtiuVuwniEyFijpe9GSAybNCTdixwVCnMU35BVxs6kKYSmrSl

"World Premiere: The Hours." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357754 World Premiere The Hours {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/22/2022. Broadcast/Telecast. Gala Performance. World Premiere
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357754

Yannick Nezet-Seguin. "Yannick Nezet-Seguin is at The Philadelphia Orchestra. WORLD PREMIERE ALERT! Tonight, it is my honor to bring to life The Hours, a brand new major opera composed by Kevin Puts on a libretto by Greg Pearce. What a wonderful cast (Renée FlemingKelli O'Hara Jennifer Johnson Cano, Mezzo Soprano and many more), team (Kensho Watanabe, conductor - ケンショウ・ワタナベ, Joe Miller Paula Suozzi) and of course the unique The Philadelphia Orchestra ! Also coming to The Metropolitan Opera as a fully staged production in the Fall #world #worldpremiere #new #opera #philadelphia #tonight #concert #blessed Thanks Joseph Conyers for the pic." Facebook. March 18, 2022.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/yannicknezetseguinofficial/posts/pfbid02DZhxTgRPABL8J8oLfc9q6YBJjpFAHHtBCxxMnhfvzPVHEFR8M1LisCFXxFxCwnGil