The WFMT Opera Series presents a recent complete performance starring Nadine Sierra, Freddie De Tommaso and George Petean.

By Robert Lee, Music and Radio Curator

A father’s love, a young couple’s devotion and a powerful family’s deception collide Saturday in Verdi’s Luisa Miller.

The WFMT Opera Series will present a complete performance recorded February 7 at the Vienna State Opera. Listeners can hear it Saturday, August 22, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern on WHRO-FM or noon Central on WFMT.

Lisa Flynn hosts the national radio presentation.

Michele Mariotti conducts the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus, with Nadine Sierra as Luisa, Freddie De Tommaso as Rodolfo and George Petean as Luisa’s father, Miller.

This is not a live performance on Saturday. It is a recent recording of the Vienna production’s premiere, which was performed before an audience and broadcast live in Austria earlier this year.

A Family Tragedy Behind the Love Story

Luisa is the daughter of Miller, a retired soldier who wants her to choose her own future.

She falls in love with a young man she knows as Carlo. He is actually Rodolfo, the son of the powerful Count Walter. Their relationship is unacceptable to Walter, who expects Rodolfo to marry the widowed Duchess Federica.

Wurm, Walter’s steward, also wants to marry Luisa. He uses the conflict to manipulate both families.

When Miller is imprisoned, Luisa is forced to write a letter claiming that she never loved Rodolfo and has been involved with Wurm. Rodolfo believes the deception.

The tragedy grows from that false letter, but the opera’s emotional center is broader than a misunderstanding between lovers. Luisa and Rodolfo are trapped by class, political power, and competing ideas about parental authority.

Miller tries to protect his daughter. Walter attempts to control his son. The difference between those two fathers becomes one of the opera’s most important contrasts.

Verdi Between Early Drama and Mature Opera

Verdi composed Luisa Miller after Macbeth and before the extraordinary period that produced Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata.

The opera stands at a turning point in his development.

Large public confrontations remain important, but Verdi increasingly concentrates on private emotion. The music moves inside the family, giving unusual weight to the bond between Luisa and her father.

Rodolfo’s second-act aria, “Quando le sere al placido,” became one of the best-known tenor selections in the Italian repertory. It begins with wounded reflection before expanding into anger over the letter he believes Luisa wrote freely.

Hearing the complete opera places that aria inside the deception that gives it meaning.

The Vienna Cast

The February 7 performance marked the premiere of a new Vienna State Opera production directed by Philipp Grigorian.

The principal cast includes:

  • Nadine Sierra: Luisa
  • Freddie De Tommaso: Rodolfo
  • George Petean: Miller
  • Roberto Tagliavini: Count Walter
  • Daria Sushkova: Federica
  • Marko Mimica: Wurm
  • Teresa Sales Rebordão: Laura
  • Adrian Autard: A peasant

Michele Mariotti conducts the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

The opera is performed in Italian. Lisa Flynn’s English-language radio presentation provides introductions and context, but listeners should not expect an English translation of every line.

Even without following each word, the vocal relationships remain clear. Luisa’s openness, Miller’s protective warmth, Rodolfo’s anguish, and Wurm’s manipulation carry through Verdi’s musical characterization.

How to Listen

WHRO-FM

  • Date: Saturday, August 22, 2026
  • Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern
  • Radio: WHRO-FM 90.3 in Norfolk and Hampton Roads
  • Online: WHRO media player
  • Smart speakers: Ask for “WHRO FM”
  • Approximate broadcast length: 2 hours and 40 minutes

WFMT

  • Time: Noon Central, 1:00 p.m. Eastern
  • Radio: 98.7 WFMT in Chicago
  • Online: WFMT live stream
  • Series: The WFMT Opera Series
  • Host: Lisa Flynn

The program is distributed to participating public-radio stations, which may schedule it at different times. Check your local classical station before Saturday if you prefer another affiliate.

Neither WFMT nor WHRO had confirmed a public on-demand replay when this guide was prepared. Listen to the live radio presentation or start the web stream at the scheduled time if you do not want to miss the performance.

Recorded Live in Vienna

The phrase “recorded live” can be confusing.

The Vienna performance took place before an audience on February 7. Austria’s Ö1 carried the premiere live at that time. The WFMT Opera Series is now distributing that performance as a recording.

Therefore:

  • The singers and orchestra performed the opera as a continuous live theatrical event.
  • The audience reactions and performance atmosphere come from that occasion.
  • Saturday’s American radio presentation occurs more than six months later.
  • Nothing happening on the Vienna stage Saturday is part of this broadcast.

Making that distinction protects the value of both kinds of radio event. A live broadcast offers the uncertainty of hearing events as they happen. A recorded-live broadcast preserves that performance while allowing it to reach additional audiences later.

The Audio Concierge Recommendation

Begin listening with Lisa Flynn’s introduction.

Her presentation should help identify the principal singers, establish the story, and place the Vienna production within the WFMT Opera Series. That context will be especially useful for listeners who do not speak Italian.

Listen closely to the scenes between Luisa and Miller. The opera may first seem like a conventional story about young lovers divided by class, but Verdi gives the father-daughter relationship equal emotional importance.

Nadine Sierra and George Petean carry that relationship, while Freddie De Tommaso brings the vocal weight required for Rodolfo’s combination of tenderness, suspicion and anger.

Broadcast information was verified on August 19, 2026. Affiliate schedules and streaming availability remain subject to change.

Sources

About the Author

Robert Lee is the Music and Radio Curator at Web Radio Info. He specializes in finding high-quality, screen-free music, talk, and live broadcasts that listeners can hear through radio, smart speakers, and accessible audio platforms.