**METROPOLITAN OPERA RADIO BROADCAST ALERT**

The Met Broadcasts the Double Bill of

Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, Conducted by Fabio Luisi

The casts feature Violeta Urmana and Yonghoon Lee,

and Barbara Frittoli and Marco Berti as the tragic couples

Saturday, February 6 at 1:00 p.m. ET

The 2015-16 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues with a live broadcast of the popular verismo double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, led by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi. Cavalleria Rusticana stars Violeta Urmana as Santuzza, opposite Yonghoon Lee, who adds a new role to his Met repertory as the faithless Turiddu, with Ambrogio Maestri as Alfio, the wronged husband. In Pagliacci, Barbara Frittoli is the adulterous Nedda, Marco Berti is her jealous husband Canio, and George Gagnidze reprises the role of Tonio. Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci will be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 6.

Fabio Luisi made his Met debut conducting Verdi’s Don Carlo in 2005 and has since led over 175 performances of 28 operas, in addition to five concerts with the MET Orchestra. As the Met’s Principal Conductor, some of his most notable performances include Verdi’s Macbeth, Wagner’s Ring cycle, Richard Strauss’s Die Ägyptische Helena, Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and Lehár’s The Merry Widow, as well as last season’s new production premiere of Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci. Later this year, he will also conduct the new production of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, which will be broadcast on March 5, as well as Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, broadcast on March 26.

Violeta Urmana last sang the role of Santuzza at the Met during the 2004-05 season. She made her Met debut as Kundry in Wagner’s Parsifal in 2001, and since then has sung both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles with the company: the title roles of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, and Puccini’s Tosca; both the title role and Amneris in Verdi’s Aida, Odabella in Verdi’s Attila, and Eboli in Don Carlo; and Maddalena in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier. Later this season, she will sing Kundry at the Vienna State Opera and Santuzza at the Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi in Salerno, as well as the Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at the Rome Opera.

Yonghoon Lee makes his Met role debut as Turiddu this season, having performed the part at La Scala and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. The Korean tenor made his Met debut in the title role of Don Carlo in 2010 and has returned as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco, and Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. His future engagements this season include both Calàf in Puccini’s Turandot and Manrico at the Bavarian State Opera, and Don José with Opera Australia.

Baritone Ambrogio Maestri made his Met debut in 2004 as Amonasro in Aida, followed by performances as Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana in 2006. His other company credits are in comic roles: Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and the title character in Verdi’s Falstaff, and next month he will add the title role of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, which will be broadcast on March 12. Other future appearances include Scarpia in Tosca at the Bavarian State Opera and the title role of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Hanover State Opera.

Barbara Frittoli sings her first-ever staged performances as Nedda this season. After making her Met debut as Micaëla in Carmen in 1995, the Italian soprano has been in over 100 performances with the company, including roles such as Elisabeth in Don Carlo, Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. She sang the role of Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème earlier this season with the company and will star as Amelia Grimaldi in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Vienna State Opera, and Opera Australia later this year.

Tenor Marco Berti is making his Met role debut as Canio. He has previously played this role at La Scala and the Los Angeles Opera. His other roles with the Met, since his 2004 company debut as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, are Don José in Carmen, Radamès in Aida, and Manrico in Il Trovatore – as well as Calàf in Turandot, which is the broadcast and Live in HD transmission the week before Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci. This season, Berti also sings Radamès at the Teatro Regio Torino and Pollione in Bellini’s Norma at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

George Gagnidze has previously sung the role of Tonio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Los Angeles Opera, and for the new production premiere last season at the Met. The Georgian baritone made his Met debut as Rigoletto in 2009, and has also appeared with the company as Amonasro in Aida, Scarpia in Tosca, the title character in Verdi’s Macbeth, and Shaklovity in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina. Later this season, he can be seen as Rigoletto at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Amonasro at the Paris Opera.

The single intermission will include artist interviews.

THE STARS OF Cavalleria Rusticana/pagliacci.

PHOTOS

Click here to download photos from Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci

About the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 85th 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