Saturday Matinee Feb. 10, 2024, Airs Great Love Duets as Met Valentines

Summary: The Saturday matinee broadcast Feb. 10, 2024, retrieves "romantic moments" in archival performances for Great Love Duets as Valentines From the Met.

Met Opera's Saturday matinee broadcast on Feb. 10, 2024, featuring a program of "Valentines From the Met: Great Love Duets," opens with a duet from Act I of Rinaldo, composed in 1711 by German Baroque composer George Frideric Handel; miniature portrait of George Frideric Handel, attributed ca. 1710 to Jakob Christoph Platzer, court painter in Passau, Lower Bavaria, southeastern Germany; black-and-white 1939 photograph by Halle photographer Gerhard Roth; stolen 1948 from Händel-Haus, Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, east central Germany: CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

The Metropolitan Opera's Saturday matinee broadcast on Feb. 10, 2024, airs Valentines From the Met: Great Love Duets, a celebration of Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, with replays of "Romantic moments in memorable performances from the Met's radio archives."

The pre-Valentine's Day celebration features romantic duets from 10 operas by 10 composers. The pre-taped compilation broadcast revives performances between 1937 and 2020.

The program comprises two parts. Each half comprises five selections.

"Scherzano sul tuo volto" from Act One of Rinaldo, an Italian opera set in Jerusalem during the First Crusade (Aug. 15, 1096-Aug. 12, 1099) by German-British baroque composer George Frideric Handel (Feb. 23, 1685-April 14, 1759) opens the first half. A 1984 performance under the conductorship of Canadian conductor and pianist Mario Bernardi (Aug. 20, 1930-June 2, 2013) presents American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne (born Jan. 16, 1934) in the titular trouser role of Rinaldo and American soprano Benita Valente (born Oct. 19, 1934) as Almirena.

"Ah, perdona al primo affetto" from Act One of La Clemenza di Tito by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) airs as the second duet. American mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey (born 1980) and English lyric soprano Lucy Crowe (born 1978) are paired in the trouser role of Annio and as Servilia, respectively, in a 2012 performance under the conductorship of British conductor, harpsichordist and Baroque interpreter Harry Bicket (born 1961).

"Verranno a te sull'aure" excerpts from Act One of Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848). French-American operatic lyric coloratura soprano Lily Pons (Alice Joséphine Pons; April 12, 1898-Feb. 13, 1976) and American tenor Frederick Jagel (June 10, 1897-July 5, 1982) sing Lucia and Edgardo di Ravenswood, respectively, in a 1937 performance conducted by Italian operatic conductor Gennaro Papi (Jan. 21, 1885-Nov. 29, 1941).

Faust by French composer Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893) provides the Act Three excerpt. Swedish operatic tenor Nicolai Gedda Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda; July 11, 1925-Jan. 8, 2017) in the title role and French-Canadian operatic lyric soprano Colette Boky (Marie-Rose Élisabeth Giroux; June 4, 1935) as Marguerite appear in a 1972 performance conducted by French conductor Roberto Benzi (Dec. 12, 1937).

Act Two of Tristan und Isolde by 19th-century German composer and librettist Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) closes the program's first half. Katarina Dalayman joins Gary Lehman in a 2008 performance conducted by Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim (born Nov. 15, 1942).

The second half of Met Opera's Valentine's Day celebration on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, opens with an excerpt from Act One of Verdi's Otello; in December 1886, 19th-century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi completed Otello, which premiered Feb. 5, 1887, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Lombardy region, northwestern Italy; portrait of Giuseppe Verdi painted by Italian genre and portrait painter Giovanni Boldini (Dec. 31, 1842-Jan. 11, 1931) end of 1885 to beginning of 1886, at Boldoni's Parisian studio, Place Pigalle no. 11, while Verdi was composing Otello; Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Lazio region, west central Italy; collection Casa Verdi (Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, "rest home for musicians"), ground floor ricostituito Museo Verdi, Milan: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The program's second half opens with “Già nella notte densa” from Act One of Otello by 19th century Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). Austrian conductor and composer Fritz Stiedry (Oct. 11, 1883-Aug. 8, 1968) conducts a 1952 performance with Chilean operatic tenor Ramón Vinay (Aug. 31, 1911-Jan. 4, 1996) in the title role and American operatic soprano Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914-Oct. 3, 1990) as Desdemona.

Act One of Tosca by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) segues as the second half's second duet. American spinto soprano Leontyne Price (Mary Violet Leontyne Price; born Feb. 10, 1927) in the title role and Italian tenor Franco Corelli (April 8, 1921-Oct. 29, 2003) as Cavaradossi appear in a 1962 performance conducted by Austrian-born Jewish American chorus master and conductor Kurt Adler (March 1, 1907-Sept. 21, 1977).

The second half's third duet extracts from Act Three of Rusalka by Czech composer Antonín Leopold Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904). Slovak lyric soprano Gabriela Beňačková (born 25 March 1947) in the title role and Canadian dramatic tenor Ben Heppner (Thomas Bernard Heppner; born Jan. 14, 1956) as the Prince appear with American operatic and symphonic conductor John Fiore (born 1960) in a 1993 performance.

Presentation of the Rose represents romantic moments from Der Rosenkavalier by German late Romantic and early modern composer Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sep. 8, 1949). German conductor Fritz Busch (March 13, 1890-Sep. 14, 1951) conducts a 1946 performance that brings together American operatic mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens (June 11, 1913-March 20, 2013) in the trouser role of Octavian and American operatic soprano Eleanor Steber (July 17, 1914-Oct. 3, 1990) as Sophie.

"Bess, you is my woman now" closes Met Opera's Great Love Duets as the second half's fifth selection and as the program's 10th offering. The duet comes from Act Two of Porgy and Bess by the Gershwins, American composer and pianist George Gershwin (Sept. 26, 1898-July 11, 1937) and his older brother, American lyricist Ira Gershwin (Dec. 6, 1896-Aug. 17, 1983), and American librettist and writer Edwin DuBose Heyward (Aug. 31, 1885-June 16, 1940). American operatic bass-baritone Eric Owens (born July 11, 1970) and American soprano Angel Blue (born May 3, 1984) appear in the title roles with American conductor David Robertson (born July 19, 1958) in a 2020 performance.

The 2023-2024 Met Opera season's Saturday matinee broadcasts continue Feb. 17, 2024, with Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera. The season's 11th Saturday matinee broadcast airs at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Met Opera's Saturday matinee broadcast on Feb. 10, 2024, entitled "Valentines From the Met: Great Love Duets," closes with a duet from Act Two of Porgy and Bess, the Charleston, South Carolina waterfront-set opera composed by American composer and pianist George Gershwin in 1935; ca. 1935 portrait of George Gershwin by Russian-American photographer Herman Mishkin (March 1870-Feb. 6, 1948): 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:

Met Opera's Saturday matinee broadcast on Feb. 10, 2024, featuring a program of "Valentines From the Met: Great Love Duets," opens with a duet from Act I of Rinaldo, composed in 1711 by German Baroque composer George Frideric Handel; miniature portrait of George Frideric Handel, attributed ca. 1710 to Jakob Christoph Platzer, court painter in Passau, Lower Bavaria, southeastern Germany; black-and-white 1939 photograph by Halle photographer Gerhard Roth; stolen 1948 from Händel-Haus, Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, east central Germany: CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georg_Friedrich_Händel_as_a_young_man.jpg; via museum-digital sachsen-anhalt @ https://st.museum-digital.de/singleimage.php?objektnum=2297&imagenr=2951

The second half of Met Opera's Valentine's Day celebration on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, opens with an excerpt from Act One of Verdi's Otello; in December 1886, 19th-century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi completed Otello, which premiered Feb. 5, 1887, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Lombardy region, northwestern Italy; portrait of Giuseppe Verdi painted by Italian genre and portrait painter Giovanni Boldini (Dec. 31, 1842-Jan. 11, 1931) end of 1885 to beginning of 1886, at Boldoni's Parisian studio, Place Pigalle no. 11, while Verdi was composing Otello; Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Lazio region, west central Italy; collection Casa Verdi (Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, "rest home for musicians"), ground floor ricostituito Museo Verdi, Milan: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giuseppe_Verdi_by_Giovanni_Boldini.jpg; CC BY 4.0, via Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali @ https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0300183868

Met Opera's Saturday matinee broadcast on Feb. 10, 2024, entitled "Valentines From the Met: Great Love Duets," closes with a duet from Act Two of Porgy and Bess, the Charleston, South Carolina waterfront-set opera composed by American composer and pianist George Gershwin in 1935; ca. 1935 portrait of George Gershwin by Russian-American photographer Herman Mishkin (March 1870-Feb. 6, 1948): Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Gershwin-signed.jpg

For further information:

Catalogo Generale dei Beni Culturali. "Ritratto di Giuseppe Verdi. ritratto di Giuseppe Verdi DIPINTO, 1886-1886 Boldini Giovanni (1842/ 1931)." Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali > Catalogo > Beni Storici e Artistici.
Available via Catalogo generale dei Beni Culturali @ https://catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/HistoricOrArtisticProperty/0300183868

Marriner, Derdriu. "Met Opera Calendars 2023-2024 Season Operas Sep. 26 Through June 8." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sep. 18, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/09/met-opera-calendars-2023-2024-season.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Met Opera Newly Stages Carmen and La Forza del Destino in 2023-2024." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sep. 11, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/09/met-opera-newly-stages-carmen-and-la.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "The Metropolitan Opera Performs 18 Operas in the 2023-2024 Season." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 21, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-metropolitan-opera-performs-18.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Metropolitan Opera Revives 12 Productions in 2023-2024 Season." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 28, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/08/metropolitan-opera-revives-12.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Saturday Matinee Broadcasts Include Six Special Programs in 2023-2024." Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/11/saturday-matinee-broadcasts-include-six.html

Marx, Jans Joachim. "On the authenticity of Christoph Platzer’s Handel portrait (c.1710)." Early Music, vol. 45, issue 3 (August 2017): 459–465.
Available via JSTOR @ https://www.jstor.org/stable/26546466
Available via Oxford Academic @ https://academic.oup.com/em/article-abstract/45/3/459/4430448