Opera Matinee

WETA Classical is Washington's home for opera year round. From December through early June, experience the power and passion of the Metropolitan Opera's Saturday Matinee Broadcasts. The rest of the year features performances from leading opera houses around the world.

Next Episode

The Queen of Spades

September 21, 2024 1:00 pm

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky's opera, considered his greatest in the genre, navigates the dark and obsessive tale of a man caught in a web of desire, gambling, and the supernatural. A recorded performance from Bavarian State Opera starring Brandon Jovanovich, led by Aziz Shokhakimov.

  • Listener's Choice

    Listener's Choice

    September 28, 2024 1:00 pm

    Tune in for Listener's Choice! WETA Classical's Opera Matinee will showcase excerpts from listeners' top 10 opera choices, followed by a complete broadcast of the opera that receives the most votes.
  • Highway 1, USA and The Dwarf

    Double Bill: Highway 1, USA and The Dwarf

    October 5, 2024 1:00 pm

    William Grant Still and Alexander Zemlinsky

    A double bill from LA Opera pairing William Grant Still’s Highway 1, USA, which explores themes and love and sacrifice in a compelling narrative of a couple striving to provide a better life for their son, and Alexander Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf, which tells a dark tale of love and vanity. James Conlon conducts.
  • Turandot

    Turandot

    October 12, 2024 1:00 pm

    Giacomo Puccini

    One of Puccini's most beloved operas, and his final work, Turandot is the tale of a cold princess who will succumb to the love of a stranger only if he can solve three riddles, and certain death if he fails. A recorded production from LA Opera.
  • Tristan und Isolde

    Tristan und Isolde

    October 19, 2024 1:00 pm

    Richard Wagner

    Wagner’s sensuous and innovative masterpiece of two lovers strengthened by the power of a forbidden love. A 2016 production of Bayreuth Festival, led by Semyon Bychkov.
  • Madama Butterfly

    Madama Butterfly

    October 26, 2024 1:00 pm

    Giacomo Puccini

    Puccini's heartwrenching tragedy of a young a young Japanese geisha, who clings to the belief that her arrangement with a visiting American naval officer is a loving and permanent marriage, is an audience favorite. A recorded presentation of Aix-en-Provence Festival, with Ermonela Jaho in the title role.
  • La Clemenza di Tito

    La Clemenza di Tito

    November 2, 2024 1:00 pm

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    One of Mozart’s last works, this drama combines deceit, a quest for power and conspiracy, and an emperor who ultimately forgives those who betray him. A recorded presentation from Aix-en-Provence Festival led by Raphaël Pichon.
  • Samson

    Samson

    November 9, 2024 1:00 pm

    Jean-Philippe Rameau

    Rameau's Baroque rendition of the epic Biblical drama of Samson and Delilah, with a libretto of Voltaire. This recorded production of Aix-en-Provence Festival features Jarrett Ott in the title role, led by Raphaël Pichon.
  • La Sonnambula

    La Sommanbula

    November 16, 2024 1:00 pm

    Vincenzo Bellini

    A light, lyrical romance relates the trouble that follows a young, innocent woman, when her sleepwalking raises suspicions about her virtue on the eve of her wedding. A recorded production of China's National Centre for the Performing Arts, conducted by Daniel Oren.
  • Un Ballo in Maschera

    Un Ballo in Maschera

    November 23, 2024 1:00 pm

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Political intrigue, a dangerous love triangle, and a fortune teller’s mysterious prophecy in Verdi's dramatic Un Ballo in Maschera. Based on the 1792 assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden. This recorded performance from China's National Centre for the Performing Arts is led by Lü Jia.
  • Capriccio

    Capriccio

    November 30, 2024 1:00 pm

    Richard Strauss

    Strauss's final opera, from 1942, is subtitled "A Conversation Piece for Music." A lighthearted competition between a poet and a composer -- a rivalry of words and music -- for a countess's attention. A recorded performance by the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Christian Thielemann.