Saturdays at 12:00 pm
Royal Opera House (Photo: Norio NAKAYAMA from saitama, japan, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped, via Wikimedia Commons)
Hear operas recorded live at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London.
Beginning in May, WFMT brings you a stellar array of recent productions from London’s Royal Opera House. The line-up from Covent Garden includes parts one to three from Wagner’s Ring — Das Rheingold, Die Walküre and Siegfried, plus works by Verdi and Tchaikovsky. WFMT host Lisa Flynn introduces the programs, and BBC Radio 3 announcers including Sean Rafferty, Martin Handley, and Tom Service present the broadcasts.
Presented in partnership with the European Broadcasting Union and the BBC.
Richard Strauss’s Elektra
July 20, 2024
Aušrinė Stundytė takes the lead role, with notable performances by Sara Jakubiak as Elektra’s sister Chrysothemis, and Karita Mattila sings the role of their mother in this intense drama. Sir Antonio Pappano conducts.
Richard Wagner’s Das Rheingold
July 13, 2024
A London performance of the majestic story of Das Rheingold.
Berg’s Wozzeck
July 22, 2023
An exquisite production of Berg’s inimitable Wozzeck by the UK’s Royal Opera. Christian Gerhaher stars in the title role, with Anja Kampe returning to the series as Marie.
Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalila
July 30, 2022
Closing out Royal Opera’s suite of productions is Camille Saint-Saëns’ grand opera; Elīna Garanča stars as the Philistine Dalila, and SeokJong Baek as the inspiring Jewish hero Samson.
Verdi’s Macbeth
July 23, 2022
Simon Keenlyside reprises the role of Macbeth, with Anna Pirozzi by his side as Lady Macbeth. Daniele Rustioni conducts.
Vivaldi’s Bajazet
July 16, 2022
Vivaldi’s 1735 opera is a dark and thrilling work where “powerful men and strong women negotiate their relationships as desires of the heart clash with rank and duty.”
Handel’s Theodora
July 9, 2022
Handel’s gripping Theodora features Joyce DiDonato, Julia Bullock, and Jakub Józef Orliński.
Giordano’s Andrea Chénier
July 13, 2019
Tenor Roberto Alagna stars as the title character in Umberto Giordano’s French Revolution-set verismo opera. This performance also features soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (Maddalena de Coigny), baritone Dimitri Platanias (Carlo Gérard), and is conducted by Daniel Oren.
Britten’s Billy Budd
July 6, 2019
Jacques Imbrailo (Billy), Toby Spence (Captain Vere), Brindley Sherratt (Claggart) star in Benjamin Britten’s seafaring opera based on the novel of the same name by Herman Melville.
Verdi’s La forza del destino
June 29, 2019
The Marquis of Calatrava (Robert Lloyd, bass) forbids his daughter Leonora (Anna Netrebko, soprano) to marry the South American nobleman Don Alvaro (Jonas Kaufmann, tenor). The lovers attempt to elope, but the Marquis catches them. In the ensuing altercation, Alvaro accidentally kills the Marquis, who curses his daughter as he dies. Leonora and Alvaro become separated during their escape. Leonora’s ...
Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades
June 22, 2019
The penniless soldier Herman (Aleksandrs Antonenko) has fallen in love with Liza (Eva-Maria Westbroek), even though she is engaged to his friend Yeletsky (Vladimir Stoyanov). Herman learns that Liza’s grandmother, the Countess (Dame Felicity Palmer), knows a winning three-card formula. Herman determines to wrest the secret from the Countess, gain a fortune through gambling and marry Liza. Sir Antonio Pappano ...
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
June 15, 2019
Verdi's opera explores long-held secrets, treachery and the father-daughter relationship, in the majestic setting of Renaissance Genoa. The dashing corsair Simon Boccanegra and Maria, daughter of the nobleman Jacopo Fiesco, have fallen in love and had an illegitimate daughter. The child has disappeared from her foster-home. Boccanegra returns to Genoa to break the news to Maria, and learns of her death as a crowd, led by the plebeian Paolo Albiani, proclaim him Doge of Genoa.
Wagner’s Siegfried
June 8, 2019
The third opera in Richard Wagner’s epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungenrevels in its depiction of heroism even as it sets up the cycle’s dramatic conclusion. Siegfried, the child of Siegmund and Sieglinde, has been raised by Alberich’s brother Mime. Mime plans to use Siegfried to take back the ring from Fafner. But, as he grows up, Siegfried rebels against his dubious guardian.
Wagner’s Die Walküre
June 1, 2019
The second opera in Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen thrillingly depicts the discovery of a great love. During a storm, Sieglinde gives shelter to a wounded stranger. They find themselves drawn to each other. He is Siegmund, the twin from whom Sieglinde was separated in childhood. Unknown to them, their father is Wotan, the most powerful of the gods. Through ...
Wagner’s Das Rheingold
May 25, 2019
The dwarf Alberich forsakes love so that he may steal the Rhine’s gold. A ring is crafted from that gold, invested with great power. When the ring is taken from Alberich, he places on it a terrible curse. John Lundgren (Wotan); Johannes-Martin Kränzle (Alberich); Alan Oke (Loge); Sarah Connolly (Fricka); Lise Davidsen (Freia); Gerhard Siegel (Mime); Günther Groissböck (Fasolt); Brindley ...
Verdi’s Falstaff
May 18, 2019
Old, large and lecherous, Sir John Falstaff can’t resist the ladies. But they can resist him, and three of them plot to put an end to his advances once and for all. Bryn Terfel plays the title role in this performance, which also features Ana Maria Martinez (Alice Ford), Simon Keenlyside (Ford), AnnaProhaska (Nannetta), Frédérid Antoun (Fenton), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Dame ...
There are no upcoming broadcasts at the moment.
.jpg){kind=link}