Classical WETA Opera House

Saturdays on Classical WETA 90.9 FM

Classical WETA is Washington's home for opera year round.

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 world, including Washington National Opera.

Your contribution helps support programs like this on Classical WETA. Consider a donation today »

Upcoming broadcasts

Orfeo Ed Euridice

The Metropolitan Opera

Saturday, April 4, 2020 - 1:00pm

Composer:

CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK

Conductor:

Mark Wigglesworth

The myth of the musician Orpheus—who travels to the underworld to retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice—probes the deepest questions of desire, grief, and the power (and limits) of art. Gluck turned to this legend as the basis for a work as they were developing their ideas for a new kind of opera. Disillusioned with the inflexible forms of the genre as they existed at the time, the composer sought to reform the operatic stage with a visionary and seamless union of music, poetry, and dance.

Details →

Tosca

The Metropolitan Opera

Saturday, April 11, 2020 - 1:00pm

Composer:

GIACOMO PUCCINI

Conductor:

Bertrand de Billy

Puccini’s melodrama about a volatile diva, a sadistic police chief, and an idealistic artist has offended and thrilled audiences for more than a century. Critics, for their part, have often had problems with Tosca’s rather grungy subject matter, the directness and intensity of its score, and the crowd-pleasing dramatic opportunities it provides for its lead roles. But these same aspects have made Tosca one of a handful of iconic works that seem to represent opera in the public imagination. Tosca’s popularity is further secured by a superb and exhilarating dramatic sweep, a driving score of abundant melody and theatrical shrewdness, and a career-defining title role.

Details →

Previous broadcasts

Werther

The Metropolitan Opera

Saturday, March 28, 2020 - 1:00pm

Composer:

JULES MASSENET

Conductor:

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

One of opera’s greatest depictions of impossible love, Werther is based on Goethe’s epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther. A sensation when it appeared in 1774 (and partly inspired by the author’s own experiences), it tells the story of a melancholy poet whose love for a married woman and general disaffection with the world lead to his suicide. The archetype of the artistic, brilliant, and doomed young man rebelling against the establishment has resonated through the ages in literature, theater, film, and music.

Details →

La Cenerentola

The Metropolitan Opera

Saturday, March 21, 2020 - 1:00pm

Composer:

GIOACHINO ROSSINI

Conductor:

Fabio Luisi

The Metropolitan Opera has canceled all live performances through March 31 in light of the risk from the COVID-19 virus. However, the Met radio broadcast season will continue in March with pre-recorded performances from the Met 's radio archives.

A young woman is denigrated by her own family but ultimately exalted by a prince who sees her true value. Rossini’s operatic version of the Cinderella tale (“Cenerentola” in Italian) is charming, beautiful, touching in parts, transcending its roots as a children’s fairytale and making the title heroine’s transformation one of character rather than stereotype.

Details →