Opera Matinee

WETA Classical is Washington's home for opera year round. From December through early June, experience the power and passion of the Metropolitan Opera's Saturday Matinee Broadcasts. The rest of the year features performances from leading opera houses around the world.

Next Episode

Silent Night

June 21, 2025 1:00 pm

Kevin Puts

A recorded 2024 production from Wolf Trap Opera at the Barns of Kevin Puts's 2011 opera, Silent Night, based on a historical truce on Christmas Eve 1914 during World War I, where, on a Belgian battlefield, enemy combatants called peace for one day in honor of Christmas. Conducted by Geoffrey McDonald.

  • La forza del destino

    La forza del destino

    June 28, 2025 1:00 pm

    Giuseppe Verdi

    The forces of destiny advance Verdi's epic account of ill-fate love, revenge and family conflict set against war and refuge in spirituality in this recorded performance from La Scala in Milan, featuring Anna Netrebko and Ludovic Tézier.
  • Eugene Onegin

    Eugene Onegin

    July 5, 2025 1:00 pm

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Tchaikovsky's breathtaking music in this heartrending opera based on the prose poem by Alexander Pushkin, of a man's arrogance that leads to lost love and friendship. A recorded performance from La Scala in Milan, with Alexi Markov as Onegin.
  • L'Orontea

    L'Orontea

    July 12, 2025 1:00 pm

    Antonio Cesti

    One of the most performed operas during the Baroque era, L'Orontea is a comedy of misunderstandings, tricks, masquerades and plot twists that show the ultimate power of love. This recorded performance from La Scala in Milan is conducted by Giovanni Antonini.
  • Les fêtes d'Hébé

    Les fêtes d'Hébé

    July 19, 2025 1:00 pm

    Jean-Philippe Rameau

    Les fêtes d'Hébé, Rameau's Baroque opera is a set of vignettes about love, poetry, music and dance surrounding Hébé, goddess of youth, who descends to sample earthly pleasures. A production of Les Arts Florissants and Opera Comique in Paris.
  • Manon Lescaut

    Manon Lescaut

    July 26, 2025 1:00 pm

    Daniel Auber

    In 18th century Paris, an ill-fated love affair between Manon, who yearns for the finer things in life, and the besotted Chevalier des Grieux. This recorded performance from Teatro Regio in Turin features soprano Rocío Pérez in the title role.
  • Manon

    Manon

    August 2, 2025 1:00 pm

    Jules Massenet

    Massenet’s most popular and enduring operas, Manon, depicts the ill-fated love affair between actress Manon and the knight Le Chevalier des Grieux that ends in disrepute and failed love. A recorded performance from Teatro Regio in Turin with Ekaterina Bakanova in the title role.
  • Manon Lescaut

    Manon Lescaut

    August 9, 2025 1:00 pm

    Giacomo Puccini

    Puccini's take on the story of Manon Lescaut sensitively portrays a doomed love affair between actress Manon and the knight Le Chevalier des Grieux. This recorded performance from Teatro Regio in Turin features Erika Grimaldi in the title role, led by Renato Palumbo.