MARNIE:Nico Muhly
Original Air Date: 11/10/2018
Broadcast Date: 1/10
Spano; Leonard, Kelly, Graves, Davies, Maltman
SID.19040640
INTERMISSION
-Marnie composer Nico Muhly with Elena Park
-Director Michael Mayer, mezzo Isabel Leonard and baritone Christopher Maltman discuss the making of Marnie
-Mary Jo Heath interviews Gerald Finley about Bluebeard’s Castle
Composer Nico Muhly unveils his second new opera for the Met with this gripping reimagining of Winston Graham’s novel, set in the 1950s, about a beautiful, mysterious young woman who assumes multiple identities. Director Michael Mayer and his creative team have devised a fast-moving, cinematic world for this exhilarating story of denial and deceit, which also inspired a film by Alfred Hitchcock. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard sings the enigmatic Marnie, and baritone Christopher Maltman is the man who pursues her—with disastrous results. Robert Spano conducts. Music by Nico Muhly, libretto by Nicholas Wright, based on the novel by Winston Graham Production: Michael Mayer; Set/Projection Designers: Julian Crouch, 59 Productions; Costume Designer: Arianne Phillips; Lighting Designer: Kevin Adams, Choreographer: Lynne Page Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera By special arrangement with Universal Pictures
CARMEN : Bizet
Original Air Date: 02/02/2019
Langrée; Phillips, Margaine, Alagna, Simpson
Live in HD SID.19050640
INTERMISSION FEATURES
-Backstage Pass: HD Host Ailyn Pérez interviews Clémentine Margaine
-Backstage Pass: HD Host Ailyn Pérez interviews Children’s Chorus Master Anthony Piccolo and Members of the Children’s Chorus
-Commentator William Berger interviews Luca Pisaroni about Don Giovanni
-Backstage Pass: HD Host Ailyn Pérez interviews Alexander Vinogradov
-Backstage Pass: HD Host Ailyn Pérez interviews Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna
Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her remarkable portrayal of opera’s ultimate seductress, a triumph in her 2017 debut performances, with impassioned tenors Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna as her lover, Don José. Omer Meir Wellber and Louis Langrée share conducting duties for Sir Richard Eyre’s powerful production, a Met favorite since its 2009 premiere.
Production a gift of Mrs. Paul Desmarais Sr.
IOLANTA / BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE:Tchaikovsky/Bartók
Original Air Date: 02/09/2019
Nanasi; Yoncheva, Polenzani, Markov, Azizov, Kowaljow, Denoke, Finley
SID.19060639
Program 020919-iolanta-bluebeard
Intermission Features
Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Sonya Yoncheva and Matthew Polenzani
Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Angela Denoke and Gerald Finley
Mary Jo Heath interviews Nadine Sierra about Rigoletto
Mariusz Treliński’s haunting production of the pairing of Tchaikovsky’s and Bartók’s one-act operas makes its first return to the stage since its Met premiere in the 2014–15 season. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva—following her triumphant 2017–18 performances as Tosca—is the blind princess, Iolanta, who discovers love for the first time, opposite tenor Matthew Polenzani as the dashing knight Vaudémont. In Bartók’s chilling Bluebeard’s Castle, baritone Gerald Finley is the menacing Bluebeard, and soprano Angela Denoke is his initially unsuspecting new wife. Henrik Nánási conducts. Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera Production a gift of Ambassador and Mrs. Nicholas F. Taubman; Additional funding from Mrs. Veronica Atkins; Dr. Magdalena Berenyi, in memory of Dr. Kalman Berenyi; and the National Endowment for the Arts
DON GIOVANNI:Mozart
Original Air Date: 02/16/2019
Meister; Willis-Sørensen, Lombardi, Garifullina, de Barbeyrac, Pisaroni, Taylor, Cedel, Kocán
SID.19070640
DON GIOVANNI{570}
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart–Lorenzo Da Ponte
Don Giovanni…………Luca Pisaroni
Donna Anna…………..Rachel Willis-Sorensen
Don Ottavio………….Stanislas de Barbeyrac
Donna Elvira…………Federica Lombardi
Leporello……………Ildar Abdrazakov
Zerlina……………..Aida Garifullina
Masetto……………..Brandon Cedel
Commendatore…………Stefan Kocán
Cello Continuo……….David Heiss
Harpsichord Continuo….Howard Watkins
Mandolin Solo………..Joyce Rasmussen Balint
Conductor……………Cornelius Meister
Production…………..Michael Grandage
Designer…………….Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer…….Paule Constable
Choreographer………..Ben Wright
Stage Director……….Louisa Muller
Intermission
-Backstage Pass – Loren Toolajian interviews Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Federica Lombardi, and Aida Garifullina
-Backstage Pass – Loren Toolajian interviews Luca Pisaroni, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Stanislas de Barbeyrac
-Mary Jo Heath interviews Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena about La Fille du Régiment
Baritone Peter Mattei and bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni star as opera’s most notorious seducer in Mozart’s masterpiece of dark comedy. Cornelius Meister makes his Met debut conducting performances that also include sopranos Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Guanqun Yu as Donna Anna, sopranos Federica Lombardi and Susanna Phillips as Donna Elvira, and basses Ildar Abdrazakov and Adam Plachetka as Leporello. Production a gift of the Richard and Susan Braddock Family Foundation, and Sarah and Howard Solomon Additional funding from Jane and Jerry del Missier, and Mr. and Mrs. Ezra K. Zilkha Revival a gift of the Metropolitan Opera Club
RIGOLETTO:Verdi
Original Air Date: 02/23/2019
Luisotti; Sierra, Zaharia, Grigolo, Frontali, Kocán
SID.19080640
Verdi’s tragic jester returns in Michael Mayer’s neon-bedecked, Las Vegas–themed production. Baritones Roberto Frontali and George Gagnidze share the title role, and soprano Nadine Sierra reprises her portrayal of Gilda, the role that helped launch her now-blossoming Met career. Tenors Vittorio Grigolo, Francesco Demuro, Matthew Polenzani, and Stephen Costello share the role of the lascivious Duke, and Nicola Luisotti conducts.
First Intermission
-Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Nadine Sierra and Roberto Frontali
-TOLL BROTHERS – METROPOLITAN OPERA QUIZ
Guest Artist: Jamie Barton; Host: Brian Zeger
Panelists: Cori Ellison, Jeff McMillan, and Rich Miller
Second Intermission
-Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Vittorio Grigolo
-Mary Jo Heath interviews General Manager Peter Gelb
LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT:Donizetti
Original Air Date: 03/02/2019
Mazzola; Yende, Blythe, Camarena, Corbelli, Muraro
Live in HD SID.19090640
Intermission
-Backstage Pass – HD Host Nadine Sierra interviews Pretty Yende
-William Berger interviews Ailyn Pérez, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, and Golda Schultz about Falstaff
-Backstage Pass – HD Host Nadine Sierra interviews Stephanie Blythe and Maurizio Muraro
-Backstage Pass – HD Host Nadine Sierra interviews Javier Camarena
Tenor Javier Camarena and soprano Pretty Yende team up for a feast of bel canto vocal fireworks—including the show-stopping tenor aria “Ah! Mes amis … Pour mon âme,” with its nine high Cs. Alessandro Corbelli and Maurizio Muraro trade off as the comic Sergeant Sulpice, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as the outlandish Marquise of Berkenfield. And in an exciting piece of casting, stage and screen icon Kathleen Turner makes her Met debut in the speaking role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Enrique Mazzola conducts. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; and the Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna
DAS RHEINGOLD:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/09/2019
Jordan; Harmer, Barton, Cargill, Ernst, Siegel, Grimsley, Konieczny, Groissböck, Belosselskiy
SID.19100640
Freia……………….Wendy Bryn Harmer
Fricka……………..Jamie Barton*
Erda………………..Karen Cargill
Loge……………….Norbert Ernst (MET Debut)
Mime………………Gerhard Siegel
Donner……………Michael Todd Simpson
Wotan……………..Greer Grimsley
Alberich…………..Tomasz Konieczny (MET Debut)
Fasolt………………Gunter Groissbock
Fafner……………..Dmitry Belosselskiy
Woglinde………..Amanda Woodbury
Wellgunde……..Samantha Hankey
Flosshilde………Tamara Mumford
Conductor……….Philippe Jordan
Production …………………Robert Lepage
Associate Director ………Neilson Vignola
Set Designer ………………Carl Fillion
Costume Designer ….. …Francois St-Aubin
Lighting Designer ……….Etienne Boucher
Video Image Artist ……..Boris Firquet
Revival Stage Director ..J. Knighten Smit
*(Met Role Debut)
Wagner’s visionary initial installment of the Ring Cycle depicts the original sin of the theft of the sacred golden treasure, the vanity of the gods, the greed of the Nibelungen, the fratricide of the giants, and the building of Valhalla. Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley and baritone Michael Volle share the role of Wotan, the conflicted lord of the gods. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton sings her first Wagner role at the Met as Wotan’s embattled wife, Fricka. In collaboration with Ex Machina
Original Air Date: 03/16/2019
Farnes; Schultz, Pérez, Lemieux, Johnson Cano, Demuro, Maestri, Rodríguez
SID.19110640
FALSTAFF {192} Giuseppe Verdi–Arrigo Boito
Sir John Falstaff…….Ambrogio Maestri
Alice Ford…………..Ailyn Pérez
Ford………………..Juan-Jesús Rodriguez
Dame Quickly…………Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Nannetta…………….Golda Schultz
Fenton………………Francesco Demuro
Meg Page…………….Jennifer Johnson Cano
Dr. Cajus……………Tony Stevenson
Bardolfo…………….Keith Jameson
Pistola……………..Richard Bernstein
Conductor……………Richard Farnes
Production…………..Robert Carsen
Set Designer…………Paul Steinberg
Costume Designer……..Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting designer…….Robert Carsen
Lighting Designer…….Peter Van Praet
Stage Director……….Gina Lapinski
Intermission
-Backstage Pass – Loren Toolajian interviews Ailyn Pérez, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, and Golda Schultz
-William Berger interviews Ambrogio Maestri, our Falstaff
-Mary Jo Heath interviews Christine Goerke, Brunhilde, about Die Walküre
The revival a gift of Edwin C. Holmer III
A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Teatro alla Scala, Milan; the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto; and De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam
Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013–14 season. Robert Carsen’s insightful production—which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s—features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.
SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saens
Original Air Date: 03/23/2019
Elder; Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Naouri, Konieczny, Groissböck
SID.19120640
Following triumphant performances in Aida and Adriana Lecouvreur earlier this season, mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili gives a commanding … exhilarating (New York Times) performance as the seductive Dalila, opposite tenor Gregory Kunde, who sings Samson with strong, focused tone and … genuine nobility (New York Times). Darko Tresnjak, who won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2014 for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, makes his Met debut directing a vivid staging of Saint-Saëns’s biblical epic, featuring a monumental setting for the last-act Temple of Dagon, where the hero crushes his Philistine enemies. Sir Mark Elder conducts the first new Met production of the work in 20 years.
Conductor Sir Mark Elder
Samson Gregory Kunde
Abimélech Tomasz Konieczny
The high priest of dagon Laurent Naouri
First philistine Eduardo Valdes
Second philistine Jeongcheol Cha
A philistine messenger Scott Scully
An old hebrew Günther Groissböck
Dalila Anita Rachvelishvili
First Intermission
-Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Anita Rachvelishvilil
-Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Gregory Kunde and Laurent Naouri
-Backstage Pass: Loren Toolajian interviews Tomasz Konieczny and Günther Groissböck
-Mary Jo Heath interviews maestro Carlo Rizzi
Second Intermission
-Mary Jo Heath interviews chorus master Donald Palumbo
-TOLL BROTHERS – METROPOLITAN OPERA QUIZ
Guest Artist: Erin Morley; Host: Gerald Martin Moorel Panelists: Ken Benson, Brad Cresswell and Peter Kazaras
Pianist: Howard Watson
DIE WALKÜRE:Wagner
Original Air Date: 03/30/2019
Jordan; Goerke, Westbroek, Barton, Skelton, Grimsley, Groissböck
Live in HD SID.19130638
In what is expected to be a Wagnerian event for the ages, soprano Christine Goerke, in her MET role debut, plays Brünnhilde, Wotan’s willful warrior daughter, who loses her immortality in opera’s most famous act of filial defiance. Tenor Stuart Skelton and soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek play the incestuous twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. Greer Grimsley sings Wotan. Philippe Jordan conducts.
TOSCA : Puccini
Original Air Date: 04/06/2019
Rizzi; Rowley, Calleja, Koch, Cokorinos
SIEGFRIED:Wagner
Original Air Date: 04/13/2019
Jordan; Goerke, Morley, Cargill, Vinke, Siegel, Volle, Konieczny, Belosselskiy
SID.19150639
SEASON PREMIERE
Program 041319-Siegfried
Opera News Broadcast Page
LA CLEMENZA DI TITO:Mozart
OAD: 04/20/2019 SID.19160640
Koenigs; Fang, van den Heever, DiDonato, Murrihy, Polenzani, Van Horn
Program
GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG:Wagner
SEASON PREMIERE
Jordan; Goerke, Haller, Schuster, Schager, Nikitin, Konieczny, Owens
SID.19170638
Program 042719-gotterdammerung
Broadcast page from OPERA NEWS
All Photos @MET OPERA
AIDA : Verdi
OAD: 10/06/2018 Rebroadcast 5/04/2019
Luisotti; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Kelsey, Belosselskiy, Speedo Green
Program: 100618-aida
NYT Review (Tommassini) Last spring at the Metropolitan Opera, the soprano Anna Netrebko took on the title role of Puccini’s “Tosca” for the first time. She claimed that touchstone part for her own, and put her mark on the whole season. On Wednesday at the Met, Ms. Netrebko did it again, this time in the title role of Verdi’s “Aida.” She is still fairly new to this challenging part, which she introduced at the Salzburg Festival a year ago. There was something fresh and exploratory about her performance on Wednesday. Yet it also felt fully formed, dramatically deep. And she sang magnificently.
Observer (Jorden) “Ritorna vincitor!” cries the Egyptian throng in the first scene of Aida as they send their hero off to war: “Return in triumph!” And that’s what the Met’s undisputed prima donna Anna Netrebko did last night in her first local performance of the protean title role of this opera: she came, she sang and she conquered.
DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES : Poulenc
OAD: 05/11/2019 SID.19190638
Nézet-Séguin; Leonard, Pieczonka, Morley, Cargill, Mattila, Portillo, LaPointe
![](<img src="https://www.metopera.org/globalassets/season/2018-19/operas/samson-et-dalila/785x590/785x590_samsonintro.jpg" /> )
SAMSON ET DALILA : Saint-Saens
Elder; Garanca, Alagna, Naouri, Azizov, Belosselskiy
OAD SID.18390106 / Encore SID.19200535
SUMMER ENCORE – Opening Night of 2018-2019 Season
Program
When mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča and tenor Roberto Alagna joined forces for a new production of Carmen at the Met, the results were electrifying. Now this star duo reunites for another sensual French opera when they open the season in the title roles of Saint-Saëns’s biblical epic Samson et Dalila. Darko Tresnjak, who won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2014 for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder, makes his Met debut directing a vivid, seductive staging, featuring a monumental setting for the last-act Temple of Dagon, where the hero crushes his Philistine enemies. Sir Mark Elder conducts the first new Met production of the work in 20 years.
Production a gift of the Gramma Fisher Foundation, Marshalltown, Iowa, and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, PhD. and Oscar Tang
Additional funding from The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Endowment Fund and William R. Miller”
![[Metropolitan Opera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.metopera.org/globalassets/season/2018-19/operas/samson-et-dalila/1600x685/1600x685_samsonprod.jpg?resize=840%2C360&ssl=1)
“
LA BOHÈME:Puccini
Original Air Date: 09/25/2018
Gaffigan; Car, Blue, Grigolo, Dupuis, Luciano, Rose, Maxwell
SID.19210535
Puccini’s timeless masterpiece of love and loss features two casts of young stars. Sopranos Nicole Car (in her highly anticipated Met debut) and Ailyn Pérez share the role of the ill-fated Mimì, opposite tenors Vittorio Grigolo and Michael Fabiano as the ardent poet Rodolfo. After a celebrated Met debut as Mimì in 2017, Angel Blue returns as the spitfire Musetta, and Etienne Dupuis (in his Met debut) and Lucas Meachem share the role of Marcello. James Gaffigan conducts.
MEFISTOFELE:Boito
Original Air Date: 11/08/2018
Rizzi; Meade, Fabiano, Van Horn, Check
SID.19220535
The spectacular Robert Carsen production returns to the Met for the first time since 2000, with bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as the diabolical title character, tenor Michael Fabiano as Faust, and soprano Angela Meade as Margherita. Mefistofele is the celebrated and only completed opera by Arrigo Boito—who famously collaborated with Verdi on the libretti for Otello and Falstaff. Production co-owned by the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera; Production a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Julian H. Robertson, Jr. and Mrs. and Mrs. Wilmer J. Thomas, Jr.; Additional funding by the Rose and Robert Edelman Foundation, Inc.
TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 10/25/2018
Rizzi; Radvanovsky, Calleja, Koch, Carfizzi
SID.19230535
Met favorite Sondra Radvanovsky and rising star Jennifer Rowley share the title role of the volatile diva at the heart of Puccini’s operatic thriller. Joseph Calleja brings his stylish tenor to the role of Cavaradossi, and Wolfgang Koch and Claudio Sgura share the role of the nefarious police chief Scarpia. Carlo Rizzi conducts Sir David McVicar’s resplendent production. Production a gift of Jacqueline Desmarais, in memory of Paul G. Desmarais Sr; The Paiko Foundation; and Dr. Elena Prokupets, in memory of her late husband, Rudy Prokupets Major funding from Rolex Revival a gift of NPD Group, Inc.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/15/2018
Nézet-Séguin; Damrau, Flórez, Kelsey
Live in HD SID.19240535
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Michael Mayer’s richly textured new production, featuring a dazzling 19th-century setting that changes with the seasons. Soprano Diana Damrau plays the tragic heroine, Violetta, and tenor Juan Diego Flórez returns to the Met for the first time since 2015 to sing the role of Alfredo, Violetta’s hapless lover. Baritone Quinn Kelsey is Alfredo’s father, Germont, who destroys their love. Later performances feature Anita Hartig, Stephen Costello, Artur Ruciński, and Plácido Domingo.
REVIEW: The Met Turns the Tragedy of ‘Traviata’ Into Dull Disney Schmaltz By James Jorden • 12/05/18 – Well, you have to give the Met credit for accomplishing a feat no other opera company in the world could—or should. At Tuesday’s gala new production of La Traviata, the company managed to downgrade Verdi’s masterpiece of musical drama to a kitschy Disney musical. The prime culprit in this act of artistic vandalism is director Michael Mayer, who seems to have no handle at all on this classic tale of a courtesan inspired by true love to make the most profound sacrifice. In the great duet in the second act, for example, when the penitent Violetta confronts Germont, the morally outraged father of her lover, the singers circled listlessly around a bed that hogged center stage through all three acts. observer.com/2018/12/the-met-la-traviata-opera-tragedy-disney-schmaltz/
Review: ‘La Traviata’ Opens a New Era at the Met Opera By Anthony Tommasini Dec. 5, 2018 ….”To begin his tenure as the company’s music director, Mr. Nézet-Séguin led an uncommonly fine rendition of Verdi’s “La Traviata,” in a new staging by Michael Mayer that stars the soprano Diana Damrau and the tenor Juan Diego Flórez. And in a rare gesture of respect and good will, the Met’s musicians joined Mr. Nézet-Séguin on stage for a bow after the show.
IL TRITTICO:Puccini
Original Air Date: 12/08/2018
de Billy; Wagner, Blythe, Álvarez, Gagnidze, Muraro, Opolais, McKay, Blythe, Mkhitaryan, Blythe, Ayan, Domingo, Muraro
MOD Audio SID.19250535
MARNIE:Muhly
Original Air Date: 11/10/2018
Spano; Leonard, Kelly, Graves, Davies, Maltman
Live in HDMOD Video SID.19260535
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST:Puccini
Original Air Date: 10/04/2018
Armiliato; Westbroek, Eyvazov, Bosi, Lucic, Simpson, Rose, Gradus
SID.19270535
Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West, with the heralded return of tenor Jonas Kaufmann in the role of the outlaw she loves. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov also sings some performances. Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance, and Marco Armiliato conducts.
?w=840&ssl=1
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR:Cilea
Original Air Date: 12/31/2018
Noseda; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Beczala, Bosi, Maestri, Muraro
SID.19280535
Based on a play by Eugène Scribe, the story was inspired by the real-life intrigues of famed actress Adrienne Lecouvreur and the legendary soldier—and lover—Maurice of Saxony. Cilea’s operatic retelling quickly became a favorite of charismatic soloists. The title character in particular is a quintessential diva role. Drama Queen (Article by William Berger) On New Year’s Eve, Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur returns to the Met with soprano Anna Netrebko in the touchstone title role. She teams up with tenor Piotr Beczała as her lover, Maurizio—a brilliant pairing of stars fresh off a joint triumph in performances of Adriana in Vienna. Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili rounds out the all-star principal trio, and maestro Gianandrea Noseda is on the podium. Sir David McVicar’s new staging—the Met’s first new production of the work in more than half a century—embraces Cilea’s glamorous 18th-century Parisian setting but also mines for deeper artistic significance in an opera that is often underestimated. (William Berger) Co-Production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Wiener Staatsoper; San Francisco Opera; and L’Opéra National de Paris Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund
PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE:Debussy
Original Air Date: 01/19/2019
Nézet-Séguin; Leonard, Lemieux, Appleby, Ketelsen, Furlanetto
SID.19290535
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducts five performance of Pelléas et Mélisande, Debussy’s mysterious meditation on love and betrayal, January 15–31, 2019. The classic production by Sir Jonathan Miller returns to the Met for the first time since the 2010–11 season, and the cast features three young Met stars at the heart of a passionate love triangle: Isabel Leonard as Mélisande, Paul Appleby as Pelléas, and Kyle Ketelsen as Golaud. Ferruccio Furlanetto sings the role of Arkel and Marie-Nicole Lemieux makes her Met debut as Geneviève. Derrick Inouye conducts the January 31 performance.
CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 01/17/2019
Langrée; Phillips, Margaine, Alagna, Simpson
SID.19300535
Mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprises her remarkable portrayal of opera’s ultimate seductress, a triumph in her 2017 debut performances, with impassioned tenors Yonghoon Lee and Roberto Alagna as her lover, Don José. Omer Meir Wellber and Louis Langrée share conducting duties for Sir Richard Eyre’s powerful production, a Met favorite since its 2009 premiere.
IOLANTA / BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE:Tchaikovsky/Bartók
Original Air Date: 02/09/2019
Nanasi; Yoncheva, Polenzani, Markov, Azizov, Kowaljow, Denoke, Finley
SID.19310535
Mariusz Treliński’s haunting production of the pairing of Tchaikovsky’s and Bartók’s one-act operas makes its first return to the stage since its Met premiere in the 2014–15 season. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva—following her triumphant 2017–18 performances as Tosca—is the blind princess, Iolanta, who discovers love for the first time, opposite tenor Matthew Polenzani as the dashing knight Vaudémont. In Bartók’s chilling Bluebeard’s Castle, baritone Gerald Finley is the menacing Bluebeard, and soprano Angela Denoke is his initially unsuspecting new wife. Henrik Nánási conducts. Co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera Production a gift of Ambassador and Mrs. Nicholas F. Taubman; Additional funding from Mrs. Veronica Atkins; Dr. Magdalena Berenyi, in memory of Dr. Kalman Berenyi; and the National Endowment for the Arts
LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT:Donizetti
Original Air Date: 03/02/2019
Mazzola; Yende, Blythe, Camarena, Corbelli, Muraro
Live in HD SID.19359996
Tenor Javier Camarena and soprano Pretty Yende team up for a feast of bel canto vocal fireworks—including the show-stopping tenor aria “Ah! Mes amis … Pour mon âme,” with its nine high Cs. Alessandro Corbelli and Maurizio Muraro trade off as the comic Sergeant Sulpice, with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe as the outlandish Marquise of Berkenfield. And in an exciting piece of casting, stage and screen icon Kathleen Turner makes her Met debut in the speaking role of the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Enrique Mazzola conducts. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; and the Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna
FALSTAFF:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/16/2019
Farnes; Schultz, Pérez, Lemieux, Johnson Cano, Demuro, Maestri, Rodríguez
SID.19330535
Baritone Ambrogio Maestri brings his larger-than-life portrayal of the title role back for the first time since his Met role debut in the 2013–14 season. Robert Carsen’s insightful production—which moves the action to postwar England in the 1950s—features an exceptional cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez as Alice Ford and soprano Golda Schultz as Nannetta.