In case you weren’t able to go to the Met Live in HD at the Lensic, here’s one more chance to catch a performance of The Hours starring Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and Kelli O’Hara. Based on Michael Cunningham’s novel of the same name, this opera by Kevin Puts delves into the lives of three women, including Virginia Woolf as she struggles to write her seminal novel, Mrs. Dalloway. In addition to Joyce DiDonato, the cast includes two other alumni of the Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Singer program, William Burden and Sylvia D’Eramo. (See profiles in our Apprentice Watch section.) Writing for the New York Times, critic Zachary Woolfe commented, “Pierce’s libretto artfully brings the women into even closer proximity than in the novel or film, enabling Puts to create, for example, gorgeous close-harmony duets for Virginia and Laura.”
Great Performances at the Met Opera is scheduled to air a total of ten productions for the remainder of 2023. A press release from PBS has indicated the dates that each opera will air.
Friday, March 17 at 8:30 PM MDT: The Hours (NM PBS)
Sunday, April 2 at 2 PM ET: La Traviata
Sunday, May 7 at 2 PM ET: Fedora
Friday, June 16 at 9 PM MDT: Medea (NM PBS)
Sunday, July 9 at 2 PM ET: Lohengrin
Sunday, August 6 at 2 PM ET: Falstaff
Sunday, September 10 at 2 PM ET: Der Rosenkavalier
Sunday, October 1 at 2 PM ET: Don Giovanni
Sunday, November 5 at 2 PM ET: Champion
Sunday, December 10 at 2 PM ET: Die Zauberflöte
Please note that the PBS press release reminds viewers to check their local listings. The Santa Fe Opera Guild’s Communications Committee has reached out to NMPBS to inquire whether these broadcasts will be available for New Mexico audiences. NMPBS has confirmed that they will air The Hours as part of PBS’ Great Performances at the Met on Friday, March 17 beginning at 8:30 PM MDT on Channel 5.1. They will also air Medea on Friday, June 16 at 9 PM. The station has advised us that Great Performances from the Met broadcasts that PBS has scheduled on Sunday afternoons conflicts with the local station’s prior commitments. These productions might be made available on another one of NMPBS’ channels, but those programming decisions had not been made as of February 20, our deadline for updating this content on the Santa Fe Opera Guild’s website. Due to the significant expense and complexities of talent contracts, we have been advised that PBS seldom offers Great Performances from the Met via its streaming service. NMPBS has offered to update the Santa Fe Opera Guild’s Communications Committee when and if they schedule additional Great Performances from the Met programming. We will pass that information along as it becomes available, and we thank them for their cooperation.