The Met: Live in HD’s fifth opera of the 2011 season, “Rodelinda” by George Fredric Handel, airs at Orcas Center on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.

It stars Renée Fleming in one of her greatest roles and features the beautiful music of the Baroque era.

Stephen Wadsworth’s fast-moving production earned critical praise for drawing out the affecting human elements of Rodelinda’s story, in which a queen who is also a wife and mother must defend herself (and her absent husband’s throne) from an evil usurper.

The title role in this opera is one of Fleming’s greatest roles; she’s been a success in it with critics and audiences since she starred in the Met premiere production in 2004. Fleming has starred in more than 200 performances of 21 different operas at the Met, in a wide variety of styles. This is the only Baroque role in her extensive repertory.

The cast also includes two of the world’s leading countertenors (male singers with a soprano-like high range), Andreas Scholl and Lestyn Davies; mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, a favorite with Met audiences in everything from Gluck to Verdi to Wagner; rising tenor Joseph Kaiser, one of Fleming’s co-stars in last season’s Capriccio; and Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $11 for students, $2 off for Orcas Center members. Visit www.orcascenter.org or call 376-2281 ext. 1.