The recently-premiered opera The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is webcast by the BBC this afternoon at 2:25 New York time, a broadcast from the English National Opera. The Beeb’s website describes the work so: “Gerald Barry‘s new opera, based on the play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, translated by Denis Calandra, exploring the tortured connections between desire and power. Petra von Kant, a successful but arrogant fashion designer in her mid-30s, falls passionately in love with Karin, a beautiful, cunning young woman who wants a career in modelling. Watching over everything, but never uttering a single word, is the enigmatic Marianne, the slavish secretary, maid and co-designer, whom Petra takes every opportunity to humiliate. Petra and Karin seal their newfound relationship with a torrid kiss, but the aftermath is devastating.” The BBC’s site and radio player, via Operacast.