Des Moines Metro Opera's 2025 "The Cunning Little Vixen" (Photo: Cory Weaver)
Des Moines Metro Opera has taken its place as a major American summer opera festival. The company’s season runs from May through July of each year during which three operas are performed in repertory. Unique among local arts organizations and national opera companies, the company’s programming encompasses a distinctive mix of styles from five centuries of composition, with a special emphasis on fascinating combinations of early and mid-20th century masterpieces infrequently heard in the United States. Music director and principal conductor David Neely joins WFMT to preview the 2026 festival season which includes Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men, and Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger. Learn more HERE.
“Tosca,” “Of Mice and Men,” and “King Roger” (Image by Ben Easter)
Playlist
Selections from Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca
Aria, “Recondita armonia”
Freddie De Tommaso, tenor
Philharmonia Orchestra/Paolo Arrivabeni
Act I Finale, Te Deum
Tito Gobbi, baritone
Maria Callas, soprano
Choeurs de l’Opéra National de Paris
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra/Georges Prêtre
Aria, “Vissi d’arte”
Carol Vaness, soprano
Philadelphia Orchestra/Riccardo Muti
Selections from Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men
Aria, “I ain’t gonna buck grain the rest of my life”
Aria and duet, “It was something I could stroke…One day”
Gordon Hawkins, baritone
Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor
Houston Grand Opera
Selections from Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger
Act II, Bacchanale
Olga Pasiecznik, soprano
Polish National Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Jacek Kaspszyk
Shepherd’s Song, “Mój Bóg jest piekny”
Ryszard Minkiewicz, tenor
City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and Orchestra/Sir Simon Rattle
Roxana’s Song, “A…! Roksana! Jej śpiew!”
Olga Pasiecznik, soprano
Krzysztof Szmyt, tenor
Wojtek Drabowicz, baritone
Polish National Opera Chorus and Orchestra/Jacek Kaspszyk
Act III, Final scene, “Slonce! Slonce!”
Mariusz Kwiecien, baritone
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Łukasz Borowicz
