'Il Barbiere di Siviglia' Broadcast 1/26 on Opera Radio

Rossini's comic masterpiece, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, will be broadcast on the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:30 pm EST on January 26, 2008.  The inventive production by Bartlett Sher, which opened last season to rave reviews, features the Met Broadcast debuts of renowned mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as Rosina and bel canto specialist tenor José Manuel Zapata as Count Almaviva.

The international cast also includes Italian baritone Franco Vassallo as Figaro, Italian bass Bruno Praticò as Dr. Bartolo, English bass Peter Rose as Don Basilio, and American soprano Jennifer Check as Berta.  French conductor Frédéric Chaslin leads the performance. Intermission content will include the beloved Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Quiz featuring legendary soprano Roberta Peters as quizmaster, and panelists Brian Zeger and Neil Funkhouser.  The audience will also be treated to backstage interviews with the artists.

For more than seven decades, the 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. Since 1940, the broadcasts have been heard in Canada, and in 1990 they expanded to include regular transmission to Europe.  Today worldwide coverage has grown to include not only more than 30 European countries, but also South America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and China.

Listeners can visit www.operainfo.org 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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