Opera on WRTI

Saturday, 1 to 5 pm

Join us every Saturday throughout the year for opera broadcasts from some of the most well-known and beloved opera companies in America. The list includes live broadcasts of The Metropolitan Opera's entire Saturday Matinee season, and recorded performances — distributed by WFMT in Chicago — from recent seasons of Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, and the San Francisco Opera. You'll also hear recorded opera broadcasts of the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) on selected Sundays, and some other surprises throughout the year!

Coming up:

October 21 Falstaff / Verdi / Chicago Symphony Orchestra

  • Riccardo Muti conducts in 2016. Baritone Ambrogio Maestri sings Falstaff, soprano Laura Polverelli sings Meg Page, and tenor Luca Salsi sings Ford.

October 28 Lucrezia Borgia / Donizetti / Caramoor
November 4 Il Pirata / Bellini / Caramoor
November 11 Tancredi / Rossini / Opera Southwest
November 18 Opera Day on WRTI - details TBD
November 25 Riders of the Purple Sage / Craig Bohmler / Arizona Opera
 

Stay tuned for the next season of The Metropolitan Opera!

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Contribute here to support opera on WRTI throughout the year!

Ways to Connect

Vote For Your Favorite Singer! AVA's Giargiari Competition on WRTI 90.1, Oct. 14 at 4 PM

By WRTI Staff • Oct 14, 2017
Academy of Vocal Arts

We hope you enjoyed the October 14th broadcast of the Academy of Vocal Arts' popular 2017 Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, recorded live at the Kimmel Center.

Opera Director Yuval Sharon Awarded MacArthur 'Genius' Grant

By • Oct 11, 2017

Jonas Kaufmann: A Tenor At The Top

By • Sep 28, 2017

What does it take to be an opera superstar? Jonas Kaufmann should know. He's been called "the world's greatest tenor."

Kaufmann has the voice. He's also got the onstage charisma, the movie-star good looks, the ambition, even a little controversy — and a brand new album.

Music for the High Holidays on WRTI 90.1, Saturday, Sept. 23rd, 4 to 6 PM

By WRTI Staff • Sep 21, 2017

The High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are among the most sacred days of the year for Jews around the world. Join us on Saturday from 4 to 6 pm for two special programs featuring music for the high holidays.

'We Shall Not Be Moved': A New Opera Traces The Legacy Of The 1985 MOVE Bombing

By • Sep 17, 2017

We Shall Not Be Moved is a new opera that takes its name from both the old spiritual-turned-civil-rights anthem and the Philadelphia black liberation group, MOVE. That group might be best-remembered for a 1985 tragedy: A police helicopter bombed the MOVE house, and the resulting fire killed 11 people and destroyed 62 homes in the neighborhood.

The opera, presented by Opera Philadelphia with the Apollo Theater, had its world premiere Sept. 16. It revisits that house and its ghosts, while remaining centered on stories about young people in Philadelphia today.

The Visionary Composer Behind the New Opera About Steve Jobs

By • Sep 4, 2017
Todd Rosenberg for the Kennedy Center

What does it take to write an opera about a man who changed the world? It takes a composer like Mason Bates, known as a master of computer-generated music who integrates the sounds of technology with the beauty of acoustic instruments.

Forebears: Maria Callas, The Divine Voice Of Classical Music

By • Aug 7, 2017

Sing Different: Steve Jobs' Life Becomes An Opera

By • Jul 22, 2017

Mark Campbell is one of the most prolific and celebrated librettists in contemporary American opera. But, as he recently told an audience at the Guggenheim Museum, not everyone thought his latest project was a good idea.

Wagner's Sinful and Seductive TANNHAUSER: Lyric Opera of Chicago on WRTI, July 22, 1 PM

By WRTI Staff • Jul 20, 2017

Only gods can live in endless bliss. Tannhäuser—minstrel and renegade—is lured into the erotic realm of the love goddess Venus. There he luxuriates in lust and a host of sinful pleasures. But finally it's all too much. He longs to return home, and does—to friends, rules of Christian conduct, and most of all, to Elisabeth, the warm but chaste young woman who loves him, despite the grief he's caused.

Lyric Opera of Chicago on WRTI: Mozart's DON GIOVANNI! July 15th, 1 PM

By WRTI Staff • Jul 14, 2017

He's selfish. He's arrogant. He’s dangerous. With a list of conquests as long as the phonebook, Don Giovanni travels the world, snaring princesses and peasant girls alike. Thousands succumb, leaving a path of dishonor and broken lives. When the Don forces himself on the virtuous Donna Anna, her father intervenes and loses his life. Has the Don finally gone too far?

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