WCPE offers 2 wonderful opportunities each week to hear the best in opera... Thursday nights at 7pm, and Saturday afternoons at 1:30 (when the Met is in season.)

The WCPE Opera House has been a regular Thursday night feature at WCPE since April of 1980. On Saturday afternoons during the Met season, tune in for live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera.

On December 4th, 2008, Bob Chapman became only the third host in the history of the WCPE Opera House, succeeding Robert Galbraith. An opera singer himself, Chapman has been the weekend host of Sleepers, Awake! since September 2006.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Bob of the show founded and nurtured by the legendary Al Ruocchio, who hosted the Opera House from its inception in April 1980 until his death in February 2007. “Al’s enthusiasm for opera was infectious, and he deserves much of the credit for creating an audience for opera in central North Carolina.” The WCPE Opera House is aimed at two distinctive audiences: those who already know and love the art form, and those who’ve only recently discovered opera and are anxious to learn more about it.

“Al Ruocchio created a format that worked very well, and Robert Galbraith expanded upon it, introducing more contemporary works. We’ll continue to play works from the core Italian, French, German, Czech and Russian repertoires while introducing newer masterpieces by contemporary American and English composers,” says Chapman.

If you wish to email Bob Chapman, please click here!

Thursdays at 7pm with host Bob Chapman

12/3 Mozart’s Lucio Silla • Lucio wants to marry Giunia and has her exiled lover Cecilio condemned to death for plotting against him. Cast: Schreier, Gruberova, Bartoli, Upshaw, Kenny.

12/10 Bizet’s La Jolie Fille de Perth • Catherine Glover and Henry Smith are united, despite competition from a Duke and a case of mistaken identity. Cast: Anderson, Kraus, G. Quilico, Van Dam, Zimmermann.

12/17 Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera • A king is murdered at a masked ball by the husband of the woman he loves. Cast: Bergonzi, Nilsson, MacNeil, Simionato, Stahlmann.

12/24 Bob Chapman celebrates Christmas Eve with Carols and Sacred Arias.

12/31 J. Strauss Jr.’s Die Fledermaus • Doctor gets revenge for friend’s practical joke, while pal’s wife carries on with Italian tenor. Cast: Brendel, Te Kanawa, Fassbaender, Leech, Baer, Gruberova, Schenk.

1/7 Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica • Cato refuses to give in to Caesar, who killed Pompey and took over Rome. Cato’s daughter Marzia loves Caesar, but Cato wants her to marry Arbace. Cast: Edwards, Laszczkowski, Faraon, Cangemi, Jaroussky.

1/14 Massenet’s Thais • Greek monk attempts to convert Egyptian courtesan to Christianity, but discovers too late his obsession is rooted in lust. Cast: Fleming, Hampson, et al.

1/21 Richard Strauss’ Die Aegyptische Helena • Fanciful confection about Helen of Troy’s post-Trojan War reconciliation with her cuckolded husband Menelaus. Cast: Voigt, Tanner, et al.

1/28 Falla’s La Vida Breve & Granados’ Goyescas • In La Vida Breve, gypsy girl’s in love with young man, who doesn’t tell her he plans to marry a woman from a higher social class, leading to her death. Cast: Rodriguez, Hernandez, et al. Goyescas is based on a series of six paintings from the painter’s early career. Cast: Angelotti, Chung, Damiani, Franci, et al.

2/4 Handel’s Serse • Persian King Serses (Xerxes)—who’s in love with a tree!—is engaged to Amastre but prefers Romilda, who loves the king’s brother Arsamene, who’s the unsought object of Atalanta’s affections. Cast: Watkinson, Esswood, Wenkel, Hendricks & Rodde.

2/11 Ponchielli’s La Gioconda • Six lovecrazed characters face off in Ponchielli’s grandest of grand operas. Cast: Caballe, Pavarotti, Hodgson, Ghiaurov, Baltsa, & Milnes.

2/18 Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini • If Cellini can cast a bronze statue of Perseus by the end of Mardi Gras, the Pope will forgive his crimes and allow him to marry Teresa, daughter of the papal treasurer. Cast: Gedda, Eda-Pierre, Berbie, Bastin, Massard, Soyer.

2/25 Rossini’s Maometto Secondo • Love story set against the wars between Turks and Venetians, culminating in the fall of Negroponte in 1476. Cast: J. Anderson, Zimmermann, Palaccio, Ramey.

Find out more at the Met Opera Information Center.

Find out more about the Metropolitan Opera.

Find study guides and more at the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Learning Center.

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