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**METROPOLITAN OPERA RADIO BROADCAST ALERT**

Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, in its Network Premiere,

Opens the Met’s 89th Season of Radio Broadcasts

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo sings the title role of the Egyptian pharaoh;

Conductor Karen Kamensek makes her Met debut with this opera

Saturday, December 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET

The 2019-20 Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast season opens with Philip Glass’s Akhnaten—the first time the Saturday matinee broadcast season has begun with an opera by a living composer. American countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo stars in the title role of the iconoclastic pharaoh who introduced the concept of monotheism to ancient Egypt. The cast also features J’Nai Bridges as Akhnaten’s wife Nefertiti, Dísella Lárusdóttir as Queen Tye, Aaron Blake as the High Priest of Amon, Will Liverman as Horemhab, Richard Bernstein as Aye, and Zachary James in the speaking role of Amenhotep. Karen Kamensek leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. This run marks the Met debuts of Bridges, James, and Kamensek. Written by Philip Glass in 1983, Akhnaten had its highly acclaimed Met premiere on November 8, 2019—the third opera by Glass to be presented by the Met, following The Voyage and Satyagraha. Akhnaten will be heard live over Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, December 7.

Anthony Roth Costanzo has previously sung the role of Akhnaten to great acclaim at English National Opera and LA Opera. After winning the Met’s National Council Auditions in 2009, he made his Met debut as Unulfo in Handel’s Rodelinda, followed by performances as Ferdinand in the baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island and Orlofsky in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. His debut album, entitled ARC, was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award and features works by Philip Glass and Handel. His other recent performances include Nero in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Cincinnati Opera, Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at Florida Grand Opera, and the title role in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Houston Grand Opera. He also has created roles in world premieres, including Roane in Jake Heggie’s Great Scott at the Dallas Opera and Cesar in Jimmy López and Nilo Cruz’s Bel Canto at Lyric Opera of Chicago. This season, he sings Unulfo at LA Opera and Theater an der Wien.

American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges makes her Met debut this season as Akhnaten’s wife, Nefertiti, a role she previously sang at LA Opera. She has been seen in roles such as Kasturbai in Philip Glass’s Satyagraha at LA Opera, Preziosilla in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino at the Zurich Opera, the title role of Bizet’s Carmen at San Francisco Opera, and Federica in Verdi’s Luisa Miller at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. She appeared at Dutch National Opera last season as Josefa Segovia in John Adams’ Girls of the Golden West, a role that she created in the opera’s world premiere in San Francisco Opera in 2017. This season, she also sings Dalila in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila at Washington National Opera and Carmen in Amsterdam.

Icelandic soprano Dísella Lárusdóttir was a finalist in the Met’s National Council Auditions in 2007, a process that was chronicled in the award-winning documentary film The Audition. She made her Met debut in Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini in 2003, and her other Met performances have included Woglinde in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, the First Sprite in Dvořák’s Rusalka, Barena in Janáček’s Jenůfa, Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and a Shadow Marnie in Nico Muhly’s Marnie. Other recent performances include the title role of Berg’s Lulu at the Rome Opera.

            Aaron Blake made his Met debut as Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata in 2017 and performed in the Met’s 2019 Summer Recital Series. Recent performances for the American tenor include his creation of Timothy Laughlin in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’s Fellow Travelers at Cincinnati Opera, Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Tulsa Opera, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with Komische Oper Berlin on tour in Australia, New Zealand, and New York. This season, he also sings Almaviva at Israeli Opera and in Cincinnati.

American baritone Will Liverman made his Met debut in 2018 as Malcom Fleet in Nico Muhly’s Marnie. His other recent performances include Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème at Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, and Dallas Opera; Tommy McIntyre in Gregory Spears’s Fellow Travelers at Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Dizzy Gillespie in Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, by Daniel Schnyder, at English National Opera. This season, he returns to the Met in January as Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and also appears as Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at Opera Colorado and Portland Opera, and Marcello in La Bohème at Seattle Opera.

Since his 1995 Met debut as Zuniga in Carmen, American bass Richard Bernstein has appeared with the company in more than 400 performances, in roles such as Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca, Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Colline in La Bohème, and Lord Krishna in Satyagraha. Recent performances include Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Chautauqua Festival and Angelotti in concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin at Bravo! Vail. This season at the Met, he also appears in Verdi’s Macbeth, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Berg’s Wozzeck, and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.

Zachary James makes his Met debut this season in the non-singing role of Amenhotep, which he previously performed at English National Opera and LA Opera. The American bass created the role of Abraham Lincoln in the world premiere of Philip Glass’s The Perfect American at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a role he reprised for English National Opera, Opera Queensland, and the Brisbane Festival. Other recent roles include the Four Villains in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Nashville Opera, Vodnik in Rusalka at Des Moines Metro Opera, and Terry in the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves at Opera Philadelphia. This season, he sings Lucius in the world premiere of Paola Prestini’s Edward Tulane at Minnesota Opera and Banquo in Macbeth at Florentine Opera. As a Broadway actor, he created the role of Lurch in the original Broadway cast of The Addams Family and appeared as Thomas Hassinger in the Tony Award–winning Broadway revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center Theater.

American conductor Karen Kamensek brought decades of experience with Glass’s work to her Met debut leading Akhnaten, which she had previously conducted at English National Opera. Kamensek was music director of the Hannover State Opera from 2011 to 2016, where she led new productions such as Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Puccini’s Il Trittico. Recent performances include Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at Welsh National Opera and Victoria Borisova-Ollas’s Dracula at Royal Swedish Opera. She has also conducted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Frankfurt Opera, Israeli Opera, Opera Australia, San Diego Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Volksoper Wien, among others. This season, she will also lead Don Giovanni at Minnesota Opera.

The intermissions will include live backstage artist interviews, as well as a conversation with the Met’s General Manager Peter Gelb.

About the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates its 89th season of Saturday Afternoon Radio Broadcasts—the longest-running classical music series in American broadcast history. 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. Mary Jo Heath hosts, joined each week in the broadcast booth by commentator Ira Siff.

The broadcasts are heard worldwide, reaching millions of opera lovers in more than 35 countries.

Listeners can visit SaturdayMatineeBroadcasts for information about the Met broadcasts. For details about all Met performances this season, as well as ticket information, visit the Met’s website at .

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