Live MET Opera Broadcast of Bizet’s Carmen Feb 2nd at 1 PM on WJOP-LP 96.3 FM Newburyport
January 28, 2019**METROPOLITAN OPERA RADIO BROADCAST ALERT**
Live Broadcast of Bizet’s Carmen to Star
Clémentine Margaine and Roberto Alagna
Saturday, February 2 at 1:00 p.m. ET
The 2018-19 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with one of the most beloved operas in the repertory, Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Clémentine Margaine stars as the free-spirited gypsy, having made her celebrated Met debut singing this title role in 2017. Roberto Alagna sings the role of the soldier Don José, Carmen’s jealous lover. Aleksandra Kurzak plays the virtuous Micaëla, and Alexander Vinogradov is the toreador Escamillo. Conductor Louis Langrée leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in Bizet’s famous score. The production will be heard live over Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 2nd on local radio WJOP-LP 96.3 FM Newburyport.
Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her portrayal of Carmen at the Met, having also won acclaim in the role at numerous houses, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Opera Australia, Washington National Opera, and Canadian Opera Company. Other notable recent roles include Amneris in Verdi’s Aida at Opera Australia, Sara in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at Bavarian State Opera, Marguerite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dulcinée in Massenet’s Don Quichotte at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Léonor in Donizetti’s La Favorite at the Bavarian State Opera and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Also this season, she sings Carmen at the Vienna State Opera and Royal Opera, Covent Garden, as well as Dulcinée in Don Quichotte at Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Tenor Roberto Alagna first sang Don José at the Met in 2000. He made his company debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème in 1996, and since then has sung many roles with the company, including des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, the title role in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, Radamès in Aida, and Turiddu and Canio in the double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. On opening night of the current Met season, he starred as Samson in a new production of Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, which was seen in cinemas worldwide as part of this season’s Live in HD series. Upcoming appearances include the title role in Verdi’s Otello and Don José in Carmen at the Paris Opera, and the title role of Giordano’s Andrea Chenier at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.
Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak adds a new role to her Met repertory as Micaëla, a role she has sung previously at Paris Opera. Since her Met debut in 2004 as Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, she has returned as Blonde in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, and as Nedda in Pagliacci (opposite Roberto Alagna, to whom she is married). Her other engagements this season include Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata and Desdemona in Otello at the Paris Opera, and the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.
Bass Alexander Vinogradov makes his Met role debut as Escamillo, having performed the role previously at La Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Zürich Opera. He made his Met debut last season as Walter in Verdi’s Luisa Miller, followed by performances as Raimondo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. He reprises Escamillo this season at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Hamburg State Opera, in addition to performing Philip II in Verdi’s Don Carlo at LA Opera, Zaccaria in Verdi’s Nabucco at Hamburg State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia.
Conductor Louis Langrée previously conducted Carmen at the Met during the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons. He made his company debut in 2007, leading Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, and has returned to conduct La Bohème, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Thomas’s Hamlet, and Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. He has conducted at opera houses around the world, including the Bavarian State Opera, La Scala, Dresden State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He has served as music director of Opéra National de Lyon and the Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and currently holds positions as music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
The single intermission will include artist interviews led by Live in HD host Ailyn Pérez.
About the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 88th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts—the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history. Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts have brought opera into millions of homes and enriched the lives of many, playing a vital and unparalleled role in the development and appreciation of opera in this country. Mary Jo Heath hosts, joined each week in the broadcast booth by commentator Ira Siff.
The broadcasts are heard worldwide, reaching millions of opera lovers in more than 35 countries.
Listeners can visit www.Metopera.org/SaturdayMatineeBroadcasts for a wealth of information about the Met broadcasts. For details about all Met performances this season, as well as ticket information, visit the Met’s website at www.metopera.org.
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Contact: Meg Boyle
Metropolitan Opera
(212) 870-7457
mboyle@metopera.org
