2017-18 Live Broadcasts

“HANSEL AND GRETEL : Humperdinck
Original Air Date: 01/06/2018
Cast: Runnicles; Oropesa, Erraught, Zajick, Siegel, Kelsey
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18010640 Tags: LIVE; 2018
A Met English-language holiday presentation, Richard Jones’s clever production of Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera is based on the Brothers Grimm story. Donald Runnicles conducts the sweeping score and a delightful cast, including the legendary Dolora Zajick as the wayward siblings’ mother. Tara Erraught and Ingeborg Gillebo share the role of Hansel, and Lisette Oropesa and Maureen McKay share the role of Gretel.

The matinee performance on December 28 will feature a pre-curtain open house, at 11AM, where audiences can connect with some of the designers, singers, dancers, musicians, and technical wizards behind the production.
-metopera.org”

“CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI : Mascagni / Leoncavallo
Original Air Date: 01/13/2018
Cast: Luisotti; Semenchuk, Alagna, Gagnidze, Kurzak, Arduini
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18020640 Tags: LIVE; 2018
Roberto Alagna takes on the leading tenor roles in both parts of opera’s most popular double bill. In Cavalleria Rusticana, Ekaterina Semenchuk is the woebegone Santuzza, with Aleksandra Kurzak as the hot-blooded Nedda in Pagliacci. Baritone George Gagnidze sings Tonio in Pagliacci and shares the role of Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana with Željko Lučić. Nicola Luisotti conducts Sir David McVicar’s production, which heightens the melodramatic action of this timeless verismo pairing.

Production a gift of M. Beverly and Robert G. Bartner, Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone, and the Estate of Anne Tallman

Major funding from Rolex Additional funding from John J. Noffo Kahn and Mark Addison, and Paul Underwood”

“THAÏS : Massenet
Original Air Date: 01/20/2018
Cast: Villaume; Pérez, Finley, Borras
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18030640 Tags: LIVE; 2018
Ailyn Pérez is the alluring courtesan and Gerald Finley is the holy man who tries to resist her powers of seduction in Massenet’s tale of sensuality versus spirituality. Emmanuel Villaume conducts. (metopera.org)”

“TOSCA : Puccini
Original Air Date: 01/27/2018
Cast: Villaume; Yoncheva, Grigolo, Lucic
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18040640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Puccini
Sir David McVicar’s “smashing new production” is “a grand triumph” (Huffington Post), featuring an exciting cast led by soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role of the fiery diva and Vittorio Grigolo as her passionate lover, Cavaradossi. The pair are “youthful, ardent, and innocent … their duets electric, their kisses hot and numerous” (Wall Street Journal). Yoncheva’s sound is “richly textured and shimmering,” and “Grigolo’s Mario is a true hothead … complete with thrilling top notes” (New York Times). Željko Lučić is “an imposing figure with a voice to match” (Wall Street Journal) as the villainous police chief, Scarpia, and Emmanuel Villaume conducts.

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
-metopera.org”

“L’ELISIR D’AMORE : Donizetti
Original Air Date: 02/10/2018
Cast: Hindoyan; Yende, Polenzani, Luciano, D’Arcangelo
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18060639 Tags: LIVE; 2018
Pretty Yende debuts a new role at the Met with her first Adina opposite Matthew Polenzani, who enthralled Met audiences as Nemorino in 2013 with his ravishing “Una furtiva lagrima.” Bartlett Sher’s production is charming, with deft comedic timing, but also emotionally revealing. Domingo Hindoyan conducts. (metopera.org) “

“LA BOHÈME : Puccini
Original Air Date: 02/24/2018
Cast: Armiliato; Yoncheva, Phillips, Fabiano, Meachem, Lavrov, Rose, Plishka
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18080640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Puccini
“

“MADAMA BUTTERFLY : Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/03/2018
Cast: Armiliato; Jaho, Aronica, Zifchak, Frontali, Stevenson
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18090640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Puccini
Anthony Minghella’s stunning production of Puccini’s heartbreaking opera, an instant Met classic since its 2006 premiere, returns with Hui He and Ermonela Jaho in the tragic title role of the trusting geisha. Roberto Aronica and Luis Chapa alternate as her callous American lover, Pinkerton, and Jader Bignamini and Marco Armiliato conduct. (metopera.org)

See the Program for the Program Notes by Albert Innaurato.”

“SEMIRAMIDE : Rossini
Original Air Date: 03/10/2018
Cast: Benini; Meade, DeShong, Abdrazakov, Camarena
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18100640 Tags: LIVE; 2018
This masterpiece of dazzling vocal fireworks makes a rare Met appearance—its first in nearly 25 years—with Maurizio Benini on the podium. The all-star bel canto cast features Angela Meade in the title role of the murderous Queen of Babylon, who squares off in breathtaking duets with Arsace, a trouser role sung by Elizabeth DeShong. Javier Camarena, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Ryan Speedo Green complete the stellar cast.

Production a gift of the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for Lincoln Center, established by the founders of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

Revival a gift of Ekkehart Hassels-Weiler”

“ELEKTRA : Strauss
Original Air Date: 03/18/2018
Cast: Nezet-Seguin; Goerke, van den heever, Schuster, Morris, Petrenlo
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18110640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Strauss
“

“TURANDOT : Puccini
Original Air Date: 03/24/2018
Cast: Armiliato; Serafin, Álvarez, Yu, Tsymbalyuk
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18120640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Puccini
Puccini’s grand spectacle of legendary China stars Oksana Dyka and Martina Serafin in the role of the ice princess and Aleksandrs Antonenko as the unknown prince who must thaw her heart or die. Maria Agresta, Hei-Kyung Hong, and James Morris are among the other remarkable artists featured in this cherished Franco Zeffirelli production, led by Carlo Rizzi and Marco Armiliato.

Although the Met presented the American premiere of Turandot in 1926, Puccini’s last work didn’t become an audience favorite until the opening of Cecil Beaton’s 1961 production, which featured Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli. Their dynamic (and highly competitive) appearances together helped secure the opera’s box office appeal.

The current Franco Zeffirelli production was first seen in 1987 with Eva Marton, Plácido Domingo, and Leona Mitchell.(from metopera.org)”

“COSÌ FAN TUTTE : Mozart
Original Air Date: 03/31/2018
Cast: Robertson; Majeski, Bliss, Malfi, Plachetka, O’Hara, Maltman
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18130639 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Mozart
“

“LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR : Donizetti
Original Air Date: 04/07/2018
Cast: Abbado; Peretyatko-Mariotti, Grigolo, Cavalletti, Kowaljow
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18140640 Tags: LIVE; 2018
The role of the fragile title heroine who teeters between love and madness is shared by sopranos Olga Peretyatko-Mariotti and Pretty Yende, who have each impressed audiences with dazzling bel canto portrayals at the Met. Vittorio Grigolo and Michael Fabiano share the role of her lover in this chilling production by Tony Award-winning director Mary Zimmerman. Roberto Abbado conducts.

Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund

Revival a gift of the Metropolitan Opera Club “

“LUISA MILLER : Verdi
Original Air Date: 04/14/2018
Cast: de Billy; Yoncheva, Beczala, Domingo, Vinogradov, Belosselskiy, Petrova
Media: Live in HD SID.18150640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Domingo, Verdi
Plácido Domingo adds yet another role to his legendary Met career in this rarely performed Verdi gem, a heart-wrenching tragedy of fatherly love. Sonya Yoncheva sings the title role opposite Piotr Beczała in the first Met performances of the opera in more than ten years. Bertrand de Billy conducts.

Production a gift of Catherine and Ephraim Gildor

Revival a gift of Rolex and Mrs. Jayne Wrightsman
“

“THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL : Adès
Original Air Date: 11/18/2017
Cast: Adès; Luna, Echalaz, Matthews, etc.
Media: SID.18160640 Tags: LIVE; 2018
From metopera.org: Following the rapturous response to his last opera, The Tempest, the Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera.

Music by Thomas Adès, libretto by Tom Cairns in collaboration with the composer, based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza”

“CENDRILLON : Massenet
Original Air Date: 04/28/2018
Cast: de Billy; DiDonato, Coote, Kim, Blythe, Naouri
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18170640 Tags: LIVE; 2018

observer.com/2018/04/joyce-didonato-shines-in-luminous-cendrillon-at-met-opera-review/“

“ROMÉO ET JULIETTE : Gounod
Original Air Date: 05/05/2018
Cast: Domingo; Perez, Deshayes, Hymel, Hopkins, Youn
Media: Live Broadcast SID.18180640 Tags: LIVE; 2018, Domingo
Bartlett Sher’s production of Gounod’s sumptuous Shakespeare adaptation was a hit of the 2016–17 Met season (“a revelation” declared the Huffington Post). Now the sweeping tragedy returns with Ailyn Pérez and Charles Castronovo as the star-crossed young lovers. Plácido Domingo conducts.

Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund

Revival a gift of Role”X

SAMSON ET DALILA : Saint-Saens
Elder; Garanca, Alagna, Naouri, Azizov, Belosselskiy
SID.18390106 
* Opening Night of 2018-2019 Season *
* LIVE Broadcast SirisuXm and Metopera.org *  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”

LA BOHEME : Puccini
Original Air Date: 09/25/2018
Cast: Gaffigan; Car, Blue, Grigolo, Dupuis, Luciano, Rose, Maxwell
 SID.18390213 
* Live Broadcast on Siriusxm  * Program *
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.  Production a gift of Mrs. Donald D. Harrington

AIDA : Verdi
Original Air Date: 09/26/2018
Cast: Luisotti; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Kelsey, Belosselskiy, Green
SID.18390321
* Live Broadcast  *  Program   *  Synopsis  *
In what should be a highlight of the new season, soprano Anna Netrebko sings her first Met Aida, going toe-to-toe with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris. Later in the season, a second star-studded cast takes over, with Sondra Radvanovsky and Dolora Zajick as the leading ladies.Tenors Aleksandrs Antonenko and Yonghoon Lee alternate as Radamès, and Nicola Luisotti and Plácido Domingo take the podium for the Met’s monumental production.

Production a gift of Mrs. Donald D. Harrington
Revival a gift of Viking Cruises

AIDA : Verdi
Original Air Date: 10/02/2018
Cast: Luisotti; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Kelsey, Belosselskiy, Green
 SID.18400214 
*
Live Broadcast   Program for October 2nd
*
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.

Reviews 

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST : Puccini
Armiliato; Westbroek, Eyvazov, Bosi, Lucic, Simpson, Rose, Gradus
SID.18400428 
* Season Premiere * Live Broadcast on SIRIUSXM  *  PROGRAM  

Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov portrays Dick Johnson for opening night (Oct 4, 8, 12)  Jonas Kaufmann returns to the MET for performances on Oct 17, 20, 23, and 27.   Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance, and Marco Armiliato conducts.

Parterre’s Porgy Amor on FANCIULLA: All about the ‘Girl’ who came to Stay

SAMSON ET DALILA : Saint-Saens
Original Air Date: 10/09/2018
Elder; Garanca, Alagna, Naouri, Azizov, Belosselskiy
SID.18410214
*
Live Broadcast     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

Even an Orgy Scene Can’t Save the Met Opera’s Dull Take on ‘Samson et Dalila’ By James Jorden • 09/25/18
Review: The Met’s New ‘Samson’ Succeeds Only as Kitsch by Antonio Tommasini 9/25/18

Puccini
Original Air Date: 10/12/2018
Armiliato; Westbroek, Eyvazov, Bosi, Lucic, Simpson, Rose, Gradus
SID.18410535
*
Live Broadcast     Program 
*
Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov portrays Dick Johnson for opening night (Oct 4, 8, 12)  Jonas Kaufmann returns to the MET for performances on Oct 17, 20, 23, and 27.   Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance, and Marco Armiliato conducts.

Parterre’s Porgy Amor on FANCIULLA: All about the ‘Girl’ who came to Stay

SAMSON ET DALILA:Saint-Saens
Original Air Date: 10/16/2018
Elder; Garanca, Alagna, Naouri, Azizov, Belosselskiy
Live Broadcast SID.18420214

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

MARNIE : Nico Muhly
Original Air Date: 10/19/2018
Cast: Spano; Leonard, Kelly, Graves, Davies, Maltman
 SID.18420535
* Live Broadcast on Siriusxm    *   Program   *   Synopsis *
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, 1842cinematic 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

LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST : Puccini
Armiliato; Westbroek, Kaufmann, Bosi, Lucic, Simpson, Rose, Gradus

Live Broadcast on SIRIUSXM   
PROGRAM          Synopsis

Soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Puccini’s gun-slinging heroine in this romantic epic of the Wild West. Tenor Yusif Eyvazov portrays Dick Johnson for opening night (Oct 4, 8, 12)  Jonas Kaufmann returns to the MET for performances on Oct 17, 20, 23, and 27.   Baritone Željko Lučić is the vigilante sheriff Jack Rance, and Marco Armiliato conducts.

NYTimes Review: Jonas Kaufmann, Back at the Met, Is Good, Not Great

BWWReview:  Kaufmann Returns to the Met with a ‘Heigh-ho Silver’ in Puccini’s FANCIULLA DEL WEST

Live Broadcast SID.18430214

TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 10/25/2018
Rizzi; Radvanovsky, Calleja, Koch, Carfizzi
SID.18430428
Live Broadcast  *  Program

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.

CARMEN:Bizet
Original Air Date: 10/30/2018
Wellber; Yu, Margaine, Lee, Ketelsen
SID.18440214
Live Broadcast * PROGRAM

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.

TOSCA:Puccini
Original Air Date: 11/02/2018
Rizzi; Radvanovsky, Calleja, Koch, Carfizzi
Live Broadcast SID.18440535

MARNIE : Nico Muhly
Original Air Date: 11/07/2018
Cast: Spano; Leonard, Kelly, Graves, Davies, Maltman
Media: Live Broadcast SID.

SYNOPSIS

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
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera
A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera
By special arrangement with Universal Pictures