Rossini's finest — and all-too-rarely performed — dramatic opera, William Tell will be streamed live and free from the Bavarian State Opera beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday on Staatsoper.TV.
Michael Volle sings the title role (one of the best fathers in all opera, just a bit late for Fathers Day), sure to rescue his young son. Yet another Latvian soprano from a small country with a big vocal culture, Marina Rebeka is Mathilde; her lover, Arnold, is Merola veteran Bryan Hymel, singing the role for the first time. (Hymel will reprise his heroic role as Aeneas in Les Troyens, acclaimed in the Royal Opera, in the War Memorial next June.) Bass Günther Groissböck is Gesler, the bad guy.
Antú Romero Nunes is making his house début at the Bayerische Staatsoper, staging Tell, which is also the curtainraiser for the 2014 Munich Opera Festival. Israel-born conductor Dan Ettinger will be the musical director.