Classical WETA is Washington's Home for Opera
Saturdays at 1:00pm
Classical WETA is Washington's home for opera year round. From December through May, experience the
power and passion of the Metropolitan Opera. The rest of the year features performances from leading
opera houses around the country, including the Chicago Lyric Opera and Washington National Opera.
Upcoming Broadcasts
May 17 at 1:00pm
Gerald Finley stars as Robert Oppenheimer in the Peter Sellars-directed Doctor Atomic. Photo by Terrence McCarthy/San Francisco Opera.
Chicago Lyric Opera
John Adams: Doctor Atomic
Conductor: Robert Spano
Cast:
J. Robert Oppenheimer / Gerald Finley
Kitty Oppenheimer / Jessica Rivera
Edward Teller / Richard Paul Fink
General Leslie Groves / Eric Owens
Robert Wilson / Thomas Glenn
Pasqualita / Meredith Arwady
Jack Hubbard / James Maddalena
Capt. James Nolan / Roger Honeywell
Plot summary:
Director Peter Sellars takes us to Los Alamos, New Mexico. It's 1945. Scientists are working on a
top-secret project for the U.S. government: development of the A–Bomb. We're there for the frenzied
three weeks before the blast, and we're there for the final countdown. We watch real people grapple
with monumental moral and ethical dilemmas. Could "the gadget" ignite the world's atmosphere?
At the helm, the mercurial Robert Oppenheimer; plus a take-no-prisoners general and scientists — some
hawks, some doves — racing for a "successful" conclusion — and unleashing the unfathomable.
Experience the landmark opera that created its own shock waves at its San Francisco world premiere!
More information »
May 24 at 1:00pm
A scene from The Barber of Seville, starring Juan Diego Flórez as Almaviva, Joyce DiDonato as Rosina, and Nathan Gunn as Figaro. Photo by Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Chicago Lyric Opera
Gioachino Rossini: The Barber of Seville (in Italian)
Conductor: Donato Renzetti
Cast:
Almaviva / John Osborn
Rosina / Joyce DiDonato
Figaro / Nathan Gunn
Bartolo / Andrew Shore
Basilio / Wayne Tigges
Berta / Lauren Curnow
Fiorello / Daniel Billings
Sergeant / David Portillo
Plot summary:
He's handsome, socially connected, and rich. Almaviva is the man of Rosina's dreams and he even
wants to marry her! So what's the problem? Her crusty old guardian thinks he should be her husband!
It's time to call in reinforcements. Enter Figaro, the barber of Seville, master of blarney and
bamboozlement and the best friend two sweethearts ever had.
With wonderful sets inspired by Magritte, everything turns up roses (not to mention five-foot combs
and floating chairs!) in this beloved Rossini charmer.
More information »
May 31 at 1:00pm
Act II, "Eugene Onegin." Photo by Robert Kusel /Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Chicago Lyric Opera
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (in Russian)
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Cast:
Eugene Onegin / Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Tatyana / Dina Kuznetsova
Lensky / Frank Lopardo
Olga / Nino Surguladze
Prince Grenin / Vitalij Kowaljow
Filipyevna / Catherine Wyn-Rogers
Mme. Larina / Marie Plette
Triquet / Keith Jameson
Plot summary:
Meet Eugene Onegin — a self-indulgent St. Petersburg playboy. He tarries with the sweet country girl
Tatyana, then rebuffs her when she pours out her passion; he looks for sport with the fiancée of his
best friend, and then kills him in a duel.
Years pass. Onegin meets Tatyana again and she's blossomed into a sophisticated beauty. Onegin is
smitten — but though she loves him still, Tatyana rejects him. A caring husband has won her devotion,
and Onegin is left alone, a portrait of despair.
More information »
June 7 at 1:00pm
Danielle DeNiese stars as Cleopatra in the David McVicar-directed production of Julius Caesar. Photo by Mike Hoban/Glyndebourne.
Chicago Lyric Opera
George Frederic Handel: Julius Caesar (in Italian)
Conductor: Emmanuelle Haïm
Cast:
Caesar / David Daniela
Cleopatra / Danielle de Niese
Cornelia / Patricia Bardon
Sextus / Maite Beaumont
Ptolemy / Christophe Dumaux
Achilla / Wayne Tigges
Nirenus / Gerald Thompson
Curio / Darren Stokes
Plot summary:
It's 48 B.C., and things are hopping!
Caesar has defeated his countryman Pompey for the job of Rome's supreme commander. Now he's out to
conquer Egypt for the empire.
Egypt's current ruler is the duplicitous Ptolemy. He's deposed his sister Cleopatra and hopes to
impress Caesar by murdering Pompey.
But Caesar is furious, and Pompey's family wants revenge.
No dummy she, the beauteous Cleopatra seizes the moment. Caesar's the man who can return her to
the throne... and she stages a seduction that even the ruler of the Western world is powerless to
resist!
More information »
June 14 at 1:00pm
Nicole Cabell (l.) stars as Musetta and Elaine Alvarez (r.) makes her Lyric Opera debut starring as Mimì in the Renata Scotto-directed production of La bohème. Photo by Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Chicago Lyric Opera
Giacomo Puccini: La Boheme (in Italian)
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Cast:
Mimi / Elaine Alvarez
Rodolfo / Roberto Aronica
Musetta / Nicole Cabell
Marcello / Quinn Kelsey
Colline / Andrea Silvestrelli
Schaunard / Levi Hernandez
Benoit/Alcindoro / Dale Travis
Plot summary:
It will make you laugh, and it will break your heart — the true-to-life tale of struggling young
artists living life to the fullest in Paris's Latin Quarter. Pulsing at its center, the love story
of the ardent poet Rodolfo and the vulnerable seamstress Mimì that begins with rapture and ends with
deep, poignant loss.
Savor some of the most sublime music ever composed and two splendid casts.
More information »
June 21 at 1:00pm
Deborah Voigt stars as the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten, a new production for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2007-08 season. Photo by Joanne Savio.
Chicago Lyric Opera
Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten (in German)
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Cast:
Empress / Deborah Voight
Dyer's Wife / Christine Brewer
Nurse / Jill Grove
Emperor / Robert Dean Smith
Barak / Franz Hawlata
Spirit Messenger / Quinn Kelsey
Voice of the Falcon / Stacey Tappan
Hunchbacked Brother / John Easterlin
One-Eyed Brother / Daniel Sutin
One-Armed Brother / Andrew Funk
Plot summary:
The lovely Empress — part celestial being, part human — has a major problem. Her husband will be
turned to stone and she'll be whisked back to the spirit realm unless she has a child — something she
cannot do because she doesn't have a shadow.
So it's off to the human world to get one. With help from her scheming nurse, the Empress convinces
a poor dyer's wife to trade her shadow in return for a life of privilege and wealth. But the dyer himself
would kill to have kids — so what's the Empress to do?
Like Mozart's Magic Flute, this epic fairytale brims with symbolism and blazes with ravishing
music.
More information »
June 28 at 1:00pm
A scene from Act III of Falstaff. Photo by Robert Kusel/Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Chicago Lyric Opera
Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff (in Italian)
Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis
Cast:
Falstaff / Andrew Shore
Alice / Veronica Villarroel
Ford / Boaz Daniel
Mistress Quickly / Meredith Arwady
Meg Page / Elizabeth De Shong
Nannetta / Stacey Tappan
Fenton / Bryan Griffin
Dr. Caius / David Cangelosi
Bardolfo / Rodell Rosel
Pistola / Andrew Funk
Plot summary:
What happens when an old knight who still fancies himself a ladies' man sends identical love
letters to two married women? Plenty, as Sir John, that wine-bibbing rascal and finds out when the
merry wives of Windsor (and a few furious husbands) decide to teach him a lesson and hang him out
to dry! Verdi at the peak of his powers, and inspiration from Shakespeare. What a combination,
and what a cast!
More information »
Recent Broadcasts
May 10, 2008
Chicago Lyric Opera
Giuseppe Verdi: La traviata
More information »
![[Header Graphic]](/images/head_text1.jpg)
SEARCH
PLEDGE/RENEW
