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March 1: Prince Igor

Cory Weaver
/
Metropolitan Opera

The 2013-14 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season continues Saturday, March 1 at noon on KLRE Classical 90.5 with a live broadcast of Borodin’s operatic masterpiece Prince Igor.

Ildar Abdrazakov stars as the title character, a 12th-century Russian ruler who went to war against the Polovtsian tribe. Gianandrea Noseda, an acclaimed interpreter of Russian music, conducts a new edition of the opera—left unfinished by Borodin at the time of his sudden death in 1887—which he and director Dmitri Tcherniakov created specially for the Met production. The cast also includes Ukrainian soprano Oksana Dyka in her network broadcast debut as Igor’s wife, Yaroslavna; Anita Rachvelishvili as the fiery Polovtsian princess Konchakovna; Russian tenor Sergey Semishkur in his network broadcast debut as Igor’s son, Vladimir; Mikhail Petrenko as Yaroslavna’s brother, Prince Galitsky; and Štefan Kocán as Khan Konchak, leader of the Polovtsian forces. Prince Igor will be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 1.

Gianandrea Noseda made his Met debut in 2002 leading Prokofiev’s War and Peace. In later Met seasons, he has conducted Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Macbeth, as well as the new production premieres of Il Trovatore and La Traviata. He is the Musical Director of the Teatro Regio in Turin, Principal Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, and Artistic Director of Italy’s Stresa Festival. In 1997, he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Mariinsky Theater; he was the first non-Russian ever appointed to the position.

Bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov’s many starring roles at the Met have included the title character in the Met premiere of Verdi’s Attila, conducted by Riccardo Muti; the title characters in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni; Dosifei in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina; Enrico in the Met premiere of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena; and the Four Villains in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. He opened the San Francisco Opera’s current season in the title role of Boito’s Mefistofele.

Oksana Dyka makes her Met debut this season as Yaroslavna. Her recent performances have included the title role in Verdi’s Aida at Paris Opera, Berlin State Opera, Arena di Verona, and La Scala; the title role in Puccini’s Tosca at Berlin State Opera, the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, La Scala, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Dresden State Opera, and Frankfurt State Opera; and the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Los Angeles Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Arena di Verona.

Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili made her Met debut in 2011 in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen, a role she has sung at many major houses, including La Scala; the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Teatro Regio in Torino; Deutsche Oper Berlin; Arena di Verona; and Seattle Opera. Her other recent performances include Lyubasha in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride at Berlin State Opera, Isabella in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri at La Scala, and the Princess de Bouillon in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur with Opera Orchestra of New York.

Sergey Semishkur sings regularly at the Mariinsky in St. Petersburg. His roles with that company in recent seasons have included the title character in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Aeneas in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème, Števa in Janá?ek’s Jen?fa, Truffaldino in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, the title character in Gounod’s Faust, and Vaudemont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta.

Bass Mikhail Petrenko made his Met debut in 2002 in War and Peace, singing the roles of Marshal Davout, Bolkonsky’s Valet, and Tikhon. He has also sung Pistola in Verdi’s Falstaff, Hunding in Wagner’s Die Walküre, Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Pimen in the new production premiere of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov with the company.

Earlier this season, bass Štefan Kocán sang Prince Gremin in the new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Sparafucile in Rigoletto, a role he also sang in the new production premiere last season. Also with the Met, he has sung the King and Ramfis in Aida, the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi’s Don Carlo, and Ferrando in Il Trovatore.

The intermissions will include backstage interviews with the stars, led by HD host Eric Owens. Also included are the third and final of a series of features to acquaint the audience with the opera, Prince Igor, and the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Quiz with guest artist, mezzo soprano Sophie Koch. She is currently in her Met debut season singing the role of Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther.