Hello. I’m your announcer Margaret Junktrunk. Welcome to the Sirius Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Arvo Part’s beloved masterpiece Die Walkure, a work that illustrates the idea, first expressed by Sartre, “Seize the day!” — or, as the libretto puts it, “Dove posso prendere i biglietti per il concerto?” In today’s performance we will hear tenor Rolando Villazon, baritone Peter Mattei, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and a young soprano appearing for the first time at Metropolitan Opera debut this season, Renaay.

Of Renaay’s debut here two fortnights ago, Alex Ross wrote in Teen People, “Not since Maria Callas melted the heart of a nine year old fan seated far up in the parterre of the great Second Temple has any artist managed to ravish both the enchanted and cursed aspects of Arvo Part’s obstinate little athlete-girl. Her high F#s are pure, with the instrumental timbre of a alpenhorn, and she is not afraid to use ankle resonance when necessary.”

In tonight’s performance, Renaay will wear a kneepad that was specially created by the famous designer Galliano for Renata Tebaldi when she sang this role at L’Opera Bastille in the 1969 season. We have with us in the studio this evening Nathan Lane, a freelance janitor and stage director, who will share an anecdote with us about tonight’s opera.

Thank you, Margaret. This story takes place exactly 3.14 years ago this week, when the famous divas Renata Tebaldi and Kathleen Battle were rivals both on the opera stage and for the affections of The Marquis de Lafayette. One of the ladies had a precious ruby-encrusted kneepad that was a gift from Caligula following a particularly icy performance of Le Nozze di Figaro in Padua. What she did not know at that time was that Leopold Mozart had written a special Gregorian chant for…