GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: Capriccio

Renée Fleming sings one of her signature roles, the elegant Countess in Richard Strauss’s "Capriccio," on Great Performances At The Met. Fleming had sung the demanding final scene of the opera in a gala opening the Met’s 2008-09 season, but this past season’s performances were her first time singing the full opera with the company.

She has sung the Countess to wide acclaim in other venues, most recently at the Vienna State Opera in 2010. Andrew Davis, who led the Met premiere of the opera in 1998, returned to conduct its first revival.

"Capriccio" also stars Joseph Kaiser as the composer Flamand, Russell Braun as the poet Olivier, Sarah Connolly as Clairon, Morten Frank Larsen in his Met debut as the Count, Peter Rose as the flamboyant La Roche, and Barry Banks and Olga Makarina as a temperamental Italian tenor and soprano; all are making Met role debuts.

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