**METROPOLITAN OPERA RADIO BROADCAST ALERT**
The Met Celebrates the Holidays with an Archival Broadcast of
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
2008 performance stars Christine Schäfer and Alice Coote,
conducted by Vladimir Jurowski
Saturday, December 24 at 1:00 p.m. ET
The 2016-17 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with an archival broadcast of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, in an English-language performance from January 1, 2008. Vladimir Jurowski led the performance, with soprano Christine Schäfer as Gretel; mezzo-soprano Alice Coote as Hansel; mezzo-soprano Rosalind Plowright and baritone Alan Held as their parents, Gertrude and Peter; and the late tenor Philip Langridge as the wicked Witch. The opera has been part of the Met’s holiday repertoire for decades: on Christmas Day, 1931, Hänsel und Gretel (sung in German) became the first complete opera to be broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera. Hansel and Gretel will be heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 24.
Vladimir Jurowski made his Met debut in 1999 conducting Verdi’s Rigoletto. Subsequently, he led the 2003 production premiere of Janáček’s Jenůfa, as well as revivals of Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades. He is the Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and in the 2017/18 season he will take on the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.
Christine Schäfer sang the title role in Berg’s Lulu for her Met debut in 2001. Her other roles with the company have been Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Sophie in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Recent credits include the Composer in Strauss´s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Vienna State Opera, as well as Ophelia in Thomas’s Hamlet and concert performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro with the Theater an der Wien.
Alice Coote reprised the role of Hansel at the Met in the 2011/12 season and has also performed the part with the Teatro Real Madrid. She made her Met debut in 2006 as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and has returned as Detective Anne Strawson in the U.S. premiere of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, and Sesto in Handel’s Giulio Cesare. Later this season, she will sing the role of Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo, which will be broadcast on March 25.
Rosalind Plowright made her Met debut as the Kostelničkain Jenůfa, and returned to the the role of Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel during the Met’s 2009/10 season. Recently she has sung the roles of Klytämnestra in Strauss’s Elektra at the State Opera in Prague, the Baroness in Barber’s Vanessa at the Wexford Festival Opera, and Mrs. Sedley in Britten’s Peter Grimes at Theater an der Wien.
Alan Held has sung nearly 200 performances with the Met since his 1989 debut as Mr. Redburn in Britten’s Billy Budd. Other Met roles include the title character in Berg’s Wozzeck, the four villains in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffman, and Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio. This season he can be seen at the Vienna State Opera as Jochanaan in Strauss’s Salome and Orest in Elektra.
Philip Langridge made his Met debut as Shuisky in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, and went on to perform several roles with the company, including Loge in Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Captain Vere in Billy Budd, the title role in Peter Grimes, and Aron in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron. Mr. Langridge performed the role of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the Met in this 2008 performance and again during the 2009/10 season before his untimely death in 2010.
THE STARS OF HANSEL AND GRETEL
PHOTOS
Click here to download photos from Hansel and Gretel.
About the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts
The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 86th 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: Silja Tobin
Metropolitan Opera
(212) 870-7457