Sirius XM to air Summer Series from The Met

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SIRIUS XM Radio will broadcast encore presentations of 21 live performances from the Metropolitan Opera’s recently completed 2008-09 season, beginning Friday, May 29 at 8 pm ET.  The Summer Encore broadcasts of Met Opera performances, running through Sunday, September 20, will be complete and uncut, including intermission and commentary.  The series can be heard exclusively on Metropolitan Opera Radio, SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79. 


The Summer Encore series will begin with the rebroadcast of the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams’s opera about the creation of the atomic bomb, Doctor Atomic, conducted by Alan Gilbert, and starring baritone Gerald Finley as J. Robert Oppenheimer on Friday, May 29 starting at 8 pm ET.

In addition to Doctor Atomic, all six of the Met’s new production premiere performances from the past season will be heard throughout the Summer Encores series, including such notable performances as Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust; Massenet’s Thaïs; Puccini’s La Rondine; Verdi’s Il Trovatore; and Bellini’s La Sonnambula.  Additional season highlights include Dvořák’s Rusalka starring Renée Fleming, Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur with Plácido Domingo, and the final performances of Otto Schenk’s production of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine.

The Met’s 125th Anniversary Gala celebration, also conducted by Levine, will be rebroadcast for the Summer Encore series.  The encore presentation includes performances by Met Opera stars Roberto Alagna, Stephanie Blythe, Natalie Dessay, Renée Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Angela Gheorghiu, Marcello Giordani, Maria Guleghina, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, James Morris and Deborah Voigt.  The Gala also marked the 40th anniversary of the Met debut of Plácido Domingo, who performed excerpts from La Fanciulla del West, Simon Boccanegra and Otello.

Met Opera Radio will also broadcast a special edition of the weekly program The Met on Record featuring music from the Metropolitan Opera’s latest CD, Celebrating 125 Years – Historic Met Performances 1937-2005. 

SIRIUS XM’s Met Opera Radio channel will continue to broadcast rare archival broadcasts from the Met’s 77-year broadcast history.