Handel’s “Rodelinda” Final 2011 Hi-Def Opera at the Center

Rodelinda, as portrayed by Renée Fleming, must defend herself and her absent husband's throne.

Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Orcas Center

Faust coming in January 2012

THE MET: LIVE IN HD’s fifth opera of the 2011 season, Rodelinda by George Fredric Handel, airs at Orcas Center on Sunday, December 18, 2011 at 1 p.m. It stars Renée Fleming in one of her greatest roles and features the beautiful music of the Baroque era.

Stephen Wadsworth’s fast-moving production earned critical praise for drawing out the affecting human elements of Rodelinda’s story, in which a queen who is also a wife and mother must defend herself (and her absent husband’s throne) from an evil usurper.

The title role in this opera is one of Renée Fleming’s greatest roles; she’s been a success in it with critics and audiences since she starred in the Met premiere production in 2004. Fleming has starred in more than 200 performances of 21 different operas at the Met, in a wide variety of styles. This is the only Baroque role in her extensive repertory.

In addition to Ms. Fleming in the title role, the extraordinary cast includes two of the world’s leading countertenors, (male singers with a soprano-like high range) Andreas Scholl and Lestyn Davies, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, a favorite with Met audiences in everything from Gluck to Verdi to Wagner; rising tenor Joseph Kaiser, one of Fleming’s co-stars in last season’s Capriccio; and Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang.

The musical performance will be led by English Baroque specialist Harry Bicket, who is a leading conductor of this genre of music. The live transmission is hosted by soprano Deborah Voigt and directed for cinema by Matthew Diamond.

Rodelinda is the fifth of 11 live transmissions to be shown this 2011-2012 season. The next transmission will be the Met’s new production of Gounod’s Faust on January 8. Three of the opera world’s leading stars—Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and René Pape—will take the principal roles in a new staging by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff,conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Running time: Approximately 4 hours

Tickets for Rodelinda are $15 for adults and $11 for students. $2 off for Orcas Center Members and may be purchased at www.orcascenter.org or by calling  376-2281 ext. 1 or visiting the Orcas Center Box Office open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon- 4 pm. For more information about Orcas Center 2011 season events, please visit www.orcascenter.org.