Renée Fleming Featured in Capriccio as Part of PBS’ Great Performances at the Met

Renée Fleming’s performance as the elegant Countess in Richard Strauss’ Capriccio will be featured on PBS’ Great Performances at the Met on Sunday, August 14 at 12 Noon (check local listings). In New York, THIRTEEN will premiere the production on Thursday, August 18 at 8pm, with a repeat broadcast on Sunday, August 21 at 12:30pm.

Strauss’ final opera uses the romantic indecision of the widowed Countess — who is pursued by both a composer and a poet — as the opportunity for a sophisticated, breezy examination of aesthetics. The Countess wonders which is more important to musical drama: the music or the written word?

Andrew Davis conducts the performance, which also features Joseph Kaiser as the composer Flamand, Russell Braun as the poet Olivier, Sarah Connolly as Clairon, Morten Frank Larsen as the Count, Peter Rose as the flamboyant La Roche, and Barry Banks and Olga Makarina as a temperamental Italian tenor and soprano.

John Cox’s production, which updates the setting to the twentieth century, was created for the opera’s 1998 Met premiere. The staging features sets by Mauro Pagano, interior décor and costume design by Robert Perdziola, and lighting design by Duane Schuler.

Joyce DiDonato is the host for the Capriccio broadcast. Gary Halvorson directs the transmission and Jay David Saks is music producer.

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