LA TRAVIATA : Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/04/2018
Cast: Nézet-Séguin; Damrau, Flórez, Kelsey
Live Broadcast Program
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in his debut as Met Opera Music Director, conducts Michael Mayer’s richly textured new production, featuring a dazzling 18th-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 in five seasons 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.
Production a gift of Eva-Marie and Ray Berry / The Paiko Foundation
Major additional funding from Mercedes T. Bass, Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone, and Rolex
LA TRAVIATA : Verdi
Cast: Nézet-Séguin; Damrau, Flórez, Kelsey
Live in HD
First Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Anita Rachvelishvili interviews Juan Diego Floréz
TOLL BROTHERS – METROPOLITAN OPERA QUIZ
Guest Artist: Bartlett Sher Host: Gerald Martin Moore; Panelists: Neal Goren, Roger Pines, and Melanie Spector
Second Intermission
Backstage Pass: HD Host Anita Rachvelishvili interviews Diana Damrau
Backstage Pass: HD Host Anita Rachvelishvili interviews Quinn Kelsey
Radio Host Mary Jo Heath interviews Erin Morley about Magic Flute
Backstage Pass: General Manager Peter Gelb interviews Music Director Yannick Nézet-SéguinRAM
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.
Production a gift of The Paiko Foundation
Major additional funding from Mercedes T. Bass, Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone, and Rolex
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 12/26/2018
Nézet-Séguin; Damrau, Flórez (cancelled), Costello, Kelsey
SID.18520321
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.
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.
“
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 03/07/2019
Domingo; Radvanovsky, Petrova, Antonenko, Kelsey, Kocán, Howard
SID.19100428
Sondra Radvanovsky sings the title role, going toe-to-toe with Olesya Petrova as Amneris. Jorge de León is Radamès, and the great Plácido Domingo conducts.
Final performance of this production on March 4 and 7 (numbers 246 and 247). ‘Then its weathered hieroglyphics, its applause-garnering live horses, its looming walls of craggy stone-esque plaster and its gold-sprayed props will all be sealed in storage, as securely as Aida and Radamès in their tomb at the opera’s end.’ [Woolfe, NYTIMES 3-1-2019]
When “Aida” returns, it will open the 2020-21 season in a new production directed by Michael Mayer and designed by Christine Jones, the pair that updated the Met’s “Rigoletto” to 1960s Las Vegas. Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct a starry cast: Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczala and Ludovic Tézier.
Aida………………..Sondra Radvanovsky
Radamès……………..Jorge de León
Amneris……………..Olesya Petrova
Amonasro…………….Quinn Kelsey
Ramfis………………Stefan Kocán
King………………..Soloman Howard
Messenger……………Arseny Yakovlev
Priestess……………Leah Hawkins
Dance……………….Min-Tzu Li
Dance……………….Brian Gephart
Conductor……………Plácido Domingo
Production…………..Sonja Frisell
Set designer…………Gianni Quaranta
Costume designer……..Dada Saligeri
Lighting designer…….Gil Wechsler
Choreographer………..Alexei Ratmansky
Stage Director……….Stephen Pickove
?pubId=610394115001&videoId=5839999932001
AIDA:Verdi
Original Air Date: 10/02/2018
Luisotti; Netrebko, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Kelsey, Belosselskiy, Green
SID.19350535
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
NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA: ANNA NETREBKO:Puccini
Nézet-Séguin; Netrebko, Polenzani, Kelsey, Luciano, Van Horn, Woodley, Netrebko, Eyvazov, Nikitin, Carfizzi, Netrebko, Eyvazov
Original Air Date: 12/31/2019
SID.20010213
In an unprecedented program to celebrate the new year, Anna Netrebko pulls out all the Puccini stops, starring as Mimì, Tosca, and Turandot in one gala evening. The star soprano will sing Act I of La Bohème, opposite tenor Matthew Polenzani, and Act I of Tosca and Act II of Turandot, opposite tenor Yusif Eyvazov. Conducted by Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and featuring an outstanding cast that also includes baritones Quinn Kelsey and Davide Luciano, and bass-baritones Evgeny Nikitin and Christian Van Horn, this will be an evening not to be missed. Each of the acts will be fully staged and costumed in the respective (and spectacular) Zeffirelli and McVicar productions.
Verdi
Original Air Date: 01/10/2020
Chichon; Kurzak, Popov, Kelsey
SID.20020000
Michael Mayer’s sumptuous staging, a highlight of the 2018–19 season, returns with two casts of bright stars. Sopranos Aleksandra Kurzak and Lisette Oropesa share the role of Violetta, the opera’s tragic heroine, opposite tenor Dmytro Popov as her ardent lover, Alfredo, and baritones Quinn Kelsey and Luca Salsi as Alfredo’s stern father, Germont. Karel Mark Chichon and Bertrand de Billy conduct one of opera’s greatest scores.
LA TRAVIATA:Verdi
Chichon; Kurzak, Popov, Kelsey
Original Air Date: 01/18/2020
SID.20030639
Michael Mayer’s sumptuous staging, a highlight of the 2018–19 season, returns with two casts of bright stars. Sopranos Aleksandra Kurzak and Lisette Oropesa share the role of Violetta, the opera’s tragic heroine, opposite tenors Dmytro Popov and Piero Pretti as her ardent lover, Alfredo, and baritones Quinn Kelsey and Luca Salsi as Alfredo’s stern father, Germont. Karel Mark Chichon and Bertrand de Billy conduct one of opera’s greatest scores.
FIRST INTERMISSION
Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Quiz
Host: Brian Zeger
Guest: Elīna Garanča
Panelists: Ken Benson, George Preston, and
Melanie Spector
Pianist: Bénédicte Jourdois
SECOND INTERMISSION
Backstage Pass – Loren Toolajian interviews Aleksandra Kurzak
Porgy and Bess Feature
AT HOME GALA:Various
Featured Artists
Ildar Abdrazakov Moscow, Russia
Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak Le Raincy, France
Marco Armiliato Lugano, Switzerland
Jamie Barton Atlanta, Georgia
Piotr Beczała Zabnica, Poland
Angel Blue Alpine, New Jersey
Lawrence Brownlee Niceville, Florida
Joseph Calleja Mellieha, Malta
Javier Camarena Zurich, Switzerland
Nicole Car and Etienne Dupuis Paris, France
David Chan Closter, New Jersey
Anthony Roth Costanzo New York, New York
Stephen Costello and Yoon Kwon Costello New York, New York
Diana Damrau and Nicolas Testé Orange, France
Michael Fabiano Bonita Springs, Florida
Renée Fleming Virginia
Elīna Garanča Riga, Latvia
Christine Goerke Teaneck, New Jersey
Gunther Groissböck Lugano, Switzerland
Jonas Kaufmann Munich, Germany
Quinn Kelsey Toronto, Canada
Isabel Leonard New York, New York
Ambrogio Maestri Lugano, Switzerland
Peter Mattei Bromma, Sweden
Erin Morley New Haven, Connecticut
Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov Vienna, Austria
Lisette Oropesa Baton Rouge, Louisiana
René Pape Dresden, Germany
Ailyn Pérez and Soloman Howard Chicago, Illinois
Matthew Polenzani Pelham, New York
Anita Rachvelishvili Tbilisi, Georgia
Golda Schultz Bavaria, Germany
Nadine Sierra Valencia, Spain
Bryn Terfel and Hannah Stone Wales
Elza van den Heever Montpellier, France
Michael Volle Berlin, Germany
Sonya Yoncheva Geneva, Switzerland
Original Air Date: 04/25/2020
SID.20170646
In its most ambitious effort yet to bring the joy and artistry of opera to audiences everywhere during the Met’s closure, the company will present an unprecedented virtual At-Home Gala, featuring more than 40 leading artists performing in a live stream from their homes all around the world. The event will take place Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m. EDT, and will be available for free on the Met’s website. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will host from their homes in New York City and Montreal, respectively. Mr. Nézet-Séguin will also participate in the gala as a pianist, and will be featured as conductor in pre-recorded performances by the Met Orchestra and Chorus, which will be created from individual takes from the homes of each of the musicians in the days leading up to the gala. After the live showing, the gala will be made available for on demand viewing on the Met website until 6:30 p.m. EDT the following day. The At-Home Gala is part of the Met’s urgent “The Voice Must Be Heard” fundraising campaign to support the company and protect its future.”