Opera on BTPM Classical
Experience world-class opera on BTPM Classical every Saturday at 1pm! Enjoy full performances of legendary operas by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and more.
The Metropolitan Opera’s radio broadcasts bring the magic of live opera to our listeners. Airing December through the first weekend of June, listeners can experience thrilling performances from today’s most renowned opera stars alongside legendary voices from the past, spanning over nine decades of Metropolitan Opera history, live from the Lincoln Center in New York City.
The WFMT Radio Network Opera Series extends the season beginning in June, offering an incredible lineup of performances to complete the year. From Milan to New York, Barcelona to Chicago, enjoy front-row access to iconic opera productions from the world’s top stages.
May 2 | Eugene Onegin|Tchaikovsky
Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin. Baritone Iurii Samoilov makes his company role debut as the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–nominee Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of … Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph).
MUSIC
Tchaikovsky’s universally beloved lyric gifts are at their most powerful and multilayered in this opera. Rich ensembles and buoyant dance numbers punctuate the work, and the vocal solos are among the most striking in the repertory: Anyone who can remember the first stirrings of love will be moved by Tatiana’s Letter Scene, in which she rhapsodically composes a letter to Onegin in an outpouring of gorgeous melody. This is rivaled in popularity by the tenor’s moving farewell to his young life in Act II, while Onegin’s Act III narrative on the pointlessness of life borders on Wagnerian.
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Timur Zangiev
Venue: The Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts NYC
CAST:
Onegin: Iurii Samoilov
Tatiana: Asmik Grigorian
Lenski: Stanislas de Barbeyrac
Olga: Maria Barakova
Prince Gremin: Alexander Tsymbalyuk
Filippyevna: Larissa Diadkova
May 9 | La Fille du Régiment | Donizetti
Performance from October 31, 2025
A bel canto classic that guarantees astounding singing, Donizetti’s ebullient comedy returns in Laurent Pelly’s “totally delightful” (The New York Times) production, with soprano Erin Morley making her Met role debut as Marie, the intrepid “daughter of the regiment.” She stars alongside high-flying tenor Lawrence Brownlee as her admirer, Tonio, with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham as Marie’s long-lost mother, the Marquise of Berkenfield, and bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as the gruff but goodhearted Sgt. Sulpice. Golden Globe Award–winning actress Sandra Oh makes an exciting Met debut as the Duchess of Krakenthorp.
MUSIC
Donizetti’s score is a deft combination of jaunty military tunes, brisk comic numbers, enormously graceful ensembles and vocal solos, and sparkling arias. Not many singers have the technical ability and theatrical presence to deliver the famous fireworks arias (notably the soprano’s Act I “Chacun le sait” and the tenor’s Act I “Ah! Mes amis,” with its notorious nine high Cs).Just as important as these, however, are the lyric beauty and pathos of the slower melodic gems (the soprano’s “Il faut partir” in Act I and the tenor’s “Pour me rapprocher de Marie” in Act II).
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Conductor: Giacomo Sagripanti
Venue: The Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts NYC
CAST:
Marie: Erin Morley
Tonio: Lawrence Brownlee
Marquise of Berkenfield: Susan Graham
Sulpice: Peter Kálmán
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Fritz Stiedry
Venue: The Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts NYC
CAST:
Don Carlo: Jussi Björling
Elisabeth of Valois: Delia Rigal
Philip II: Cesare Siepi
Princess Eboli: Fedora Barbieri
Rodrigo: Robert Merrill
Grand Inquisitor: Jerome Hines
May 23 | Turandot | Puccini
“One of the most lavish and intricate [productions] in the company’s repertoire” (The New York Times), Franco Zeffirelli’s glittering take on Puccini’s final masterpiece returns to the stage with three extraordinary casts bringing the rousing score to life. Sopranos Angela Meade, Anna Pirozzi, and Liudmyla Monastyrska star in the title role of the vengeful princess, whose frozen heart is thawed by the courageous prince Calàf, portrayed by tenors Michael Fabiano, Brian Jagde, and Roberto Alagna.
MUSIC
The large Turandot orchestra calls for a wide variety of instruments, including alto saxophones, celesta, bass xylophone, harps, and an organ. There are several genuine Chinese themes that are integrated into the score in a suave and brilliantly original manner, including the big imperial anthem in Act II. The opera also contains moments of sheer melodic beauty in Puccini’s most lyrical vein, most notably in the tenor’s unforgettable song of triumph, “Nessundorma,” which opens Act III.
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Conductor: Oksana Lyniv
Venue: The Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts NYC
CAST:
Turandot: Anna Pirozzi
Calàf: Brian Jagde
Liù: Angel Blue
Timur: John Relyea