Joseph Calleja to Sing Title Role in New Hoffmann
June 17, 2009
Joseph Calleja will sing the title role in the new production of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, directed by Bartlett Sher and conducted by James Levine, which premieres in December. The Maltese tenor replaces Rolando Villazón, who, as previously announced, plans to undergo throat surgery and will return to the stage in 2010. Alan Held will sing the Four Villains, replacing René Pape, who has decided not to add these roles to his repertoire.
Calleja made his Met debut as the Duke in Rigoletto in 2006. He was heard as Macduff in Macbeth in 2007–08 and this past season sang Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, the Duke, and appeared in the 125th Anniversary Gala. This will mark his role debut as Hoffmann. Alan Held sang the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Met in 1993 and 1998 and has performed numerous roles with the company since his 1989 debut, including the title role in Wozzeck, Orest in Elektra, Gunther in Götterdämmerung, Pizarro in Fidelio, and Peter in the new production of Hansel and Gretel in 2007.
Les Contes d’Hoffmann opens on December 3, 2009, and runs through January 2, 2010. The cast includes Kathleen Kim as Olympia, Anna Netrebko as Antonia, Ekaterina Gubanova as Giulietta, and Elīna Garanča as Nicklausse. The December 19 matinee performance will be transmitted into movie theaters worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series.
A Tribute to James Morris
May 8, 2009
James Morris has sung 89 performances as Wotan and the Wanderer at the Met since 1987, when Otto Schenk’s production of Das Rheingold premiered. Last night, after the final performance of Siegfried in Schenk’s staging, General Manager Peter Gelb presented the esteemed bass with an original prop spear from the production. “You have been the Wotan standard bearer for the Met and for the world,” Gelb said. “As a token of your triumphs on this stage, we’d like you to have one of the spears that has accompanied you on this journey.” Gelb pointed out that the spear had been touched up by the scenic shop: “It’s in pristine condition,” he warned Morris, “so don’t carve any runes on it.”
Music Director James Levine, who was also present at the short ceremony on stage behind the closed curtain, presented Morris with a personal gift—the baton with which he conducted the production premiere of Das Rheingold 22 years ago.
“It’s hard to imagine where I would be without this Ring,” Morris said, thanking the small assembled crowd. “It’s my favorite role in my favorite house. This production leaves you speechless, and I feel very lucky to have been able to do it.”
James Morris with Peter Gelb (left) and James Levine
Photo: Robert Caplin/Metropolitan Opera
John Relyea Wins Sills Award
May 6, 2009
Bass John Relyea has been named the recipient of the fourth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young American singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles with the Met. It was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met board, and her husband, Karl Leichtman, in honor of Beverly Sills.
Relyea is currently starring as Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola, the role of his 2000 Met debut. The opera will be seen as the season's last Live in HD transmission this Saturday. His Met repertoire also includes Mozart's Figaro, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Colline in La Bohème. His performances as Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Banquo in Macbeth, and Méphistophélès in La Damnation de Faust were all part of the Live in HD series. Relyea is the fourth winner of the Beverly Sills Award, following baritone Nathan Gunn, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, and tenor Matthew Polenzani.
Read the full announcement.
Villazón Withdraws from Hoffmann
April 29, 2009
Rolando Villazón has withdrawn from the title role in the Met’s new production of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, scheduled for December 3, 2009 through January 2, 2010. He announced today that he is undergoing throat surgery and expects to return to the stage in 2010. The Metropolitan Opera looks forward to his return in future seasons.
A replacement for the role of Hoffmann will be announced at a later date.
Enjoy a Free Weekend of Met Player!
April 24, 2009
Met Player, the company’s new online streaming service, will be available for free as a special promotion for the entire weekend of May 1–3. Beginning at 5 pm ET on Friday, May 1, all visitors to metplayer.org will enjoy free and unlimited access to more than 200 full-length operas—including 20 performances from the first three seasons of the Met's award-winning Live in HD series. The offer ends at midnight on Sunday, May 3.
To take advantage of this special promotion, visitors will need to be logged in to the site:
- If you already have a Met username and password, simply log in.
- If you don't have a username and password, Register now by following this link or clicking on “Register” in the top left corner of this page. New users are encouraged to register ahead of time.
- If the site informs you that your selected username and/or email address is already in use, you are most likely already registered on the Met website. Please try to log in with your username and password, or click the “Forgot your password?” link on the login page to have the username and password linked to your email address sent to you immediately.
- Please remember your username and password for easy access!
Once logged in, users can explore and experience the entire Met Player catalog, including the 20 HD presentations, more than 40 classic telecasts, and 150 historic audio broadcasts dating back to 1937. All video titles include English subtitles; subtitles in French, German, and Spanish have recently been added to the current season’s HD productions on Met Player.
Please visit Met Player's FAQs section for details on technical requirements, troubleshooting tips, and answers to customers’ frequently asked questions. You may also want to visit metplayer.org ahead of the free weekend and watch one of the preview clips (available at all times), to ensure your computer and internet connection are sufficient to enjoy this service. Met Customer Care will be available from 10 am to 8 pm on Friday and Saturday, and from noon to 6 pm on Sunday.
We hope you’ll take the time to explore Met Player and enjoy the free weekend. Then consider one of the affordable Met Player subscription offers to have this unparalleled online collection of opera available to you anytime!
Critics Praise The Audition
April 16, 2009
“Where are the opera stars of the future? Some of the answers could be found in The Audition, an exhilarating and poignant documentary that takes the viewer inside the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions” (The Plain Dealer).
Susan Froemke’s new film, which chronicles the weeks leading up to the final round of the Met’s 2007 National Council Auditions, will be seen in movie theaters this Sunday, April 19. The documentary is winning high praise from critics. "Froemke deftly maintains a dynamic balance," says Variety, "following the throughline of a particular artist's development while keeping track of several singers at once without losing clarity or depth. This complex interweaving of individual and collective strands grants the docu a rare richness that climaxes spectacularly."
“As an introduction to a new generation of American opera stars and an opportunity to hear them sing, [the film] is splendid!” Roger Ebert declares. It “captures the stress and the jubilation, the camaraderie and the rivalry of the 11 young singers of the 2007 finals,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says, and the Los Angeles Times adds, "The intimacy of Froemke's cinema vérité style reveals something of the intense pressures facing the auditionees." The South Florida Classical Review points out that “the strong emotions are always present, yet Froemke never over-indulges, and is smart enough to just follow the participants. Moments of intense beauty... contrast with others of evident despair, grinding anxiety or exultant happiness... A fascinating and welcome glimpse into the world of opera.”
Watch the trailer and buy tickets to this "engrossing documentary" (The Wall Street Journal).
Live in HD Wins a Peabody
April 2, 2009
Ever since its launch with Mozart’s The Magic Flute in December 2006, The Met: Live in HD has been a global hit with critics and audiences. Now the company’s series of live high-definition performance transmissions to movie theaters around the world has also won a prestigious Peabody Award.
Created in 1941 to recognize the most outstanding achievements in broadcasting, the Peabody Awards honored the Met this year for the HD series’ “vividly designed, smartly annotated productions of Hansel and Gretel, Doctor Atomic, Peter Grimes and other operas.” Yesterday’s announcement went on to say that “the Met used state-of-the-art digital technology to reinvent presentation of a classic art form.”
With one transmission remaining this season, the series has so far sold more than 1.5 million tickets. Next season, the Met will present nine live HD productions, starting with a new production of Tosca, starring Karita Mattila and conducted by James Levine, on October 10. The season will conclude on May 1, 2010 with a new staging of Rossini’s Armida, starring Renée Fleming.
The Met was in good company among this year’s crop of Peabody winners. Other organizations to take home awards include NBC for its coverage of the Beijing Olympics; CNN for its coverage of the presidential primaries and debates; HBO for the original movie John Adams; and YouTube. The Peabody Awards’ sole criterion is “excellence.”
Last fall, the Met also won an Emmy Award for the Live in HD series.
The Met: Live in HD series, produced in association with PBS and WNET.org, is seen on public television as part of Great Performances at the Met.
The series is made possible by a generous grant from the Neubauer Family Foundation.
Met Player Introduces New Features
March 25, 2009
Several new features have been added to Met Player this month to enhance the user experience of the company's online subscription streaming service. The current season's Live in HD presentations now include multi-language subtitles: users may choose English, French, German, and Spanish for the performances of La Damnation de Faust, Doctor Atomic, Salome and Thaïs. English and Spanish subtitles are available for the Opening Night Gala Starring Renée Fleming. All future HD additions to the Met Player catalog will offer subtitles in four languages. Titles scheduled to be released in the months ahead include this season's Lucia di Lammermoor, Madama Butterfly, Orfeo ed Euridice, La Cenerentola, La Rondine, and La Sonnambula.
Since the launch of Met Player, all video performances have included subtitles in English. Now users will have the option to turn off the subtitles. As an additional new feature, all tracks of any particular opera have been numbered in the scrolling track listing on the right side of the player screen for easier navigation and reference.
Behind the scenes, Met Player has also been upgraded to the latest version of the Move Networks plugin. For users accessing Met Player through a combination of Windows Vista and Firefox this change should result in improved video and audio performance. Please see the site’s FAQs for more information.
New CD Celebrates the Met's 125th Anniversary
March 19, 2009
Coinciding with the 125th Anniversary Gala, the Met has just released a new CD, featuring selections from seven decades of Met broadcasts. The lineup of Celebrating 125 Years: Historic Met Performances 1937–2005 includes such legendary artists as Lauritz Melchior and Kirsten Flagstad in Siegfried, Leontyne Price in Antony and Cleopatra, and Plácido Domingo in Parsifal, plus 24 other tracks. The double-CD set comes with a 28-page full-color booklet and is available exclusively at the Met Opera Shop for $25. 
The Met: Live in HD 2009–10 Series
March 12, 2009
Together with the Met’s plans for the 2009–10 season’s new productions and revivals, General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine recently announced the lineup for next season’s Live in HD performances. The series, which just won a Peabody Award, will present nine live transmissions in its fourth season. Tickets for the 2009–10 series will go on sale in September, with priority access for Met members (before tickets are made available to the general public). The schedule is as follows:
Tosca – October 10
James Levine; Karita Mattila, Marcelo Álvarez, Juha Uusitalo, Paul Plishka
Aida – October 24
Daniele Gatti; Violeta Urmana, Dolora Zajick, Johan Botha, Carlo Guelfi, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Stefan Kocán
Turandot – November 7
Andris Nelsons; Maria Guleghina, Marina Poplavskaya, Marcello Giordani, Samuel Ramey
Les Contes d’Hoffmann – December 19
James Levine; Kathleen Kim, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, Elina Garanča, TBA, René Pape
Der Rosenkavalier – January 9
James Levine; Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Christine Schäfer, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen, Kristinn Sigmundsson
Carmen – January 16
Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Barbara Frittoli, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Mariusz Kwiecien
Simon Boccanegra – February 6
James Levine; Adrianne Pieczonka, Marcello Giordani, Plácido Domingo, James Morris
Hamlet – March 27
Louis Langrée; Natalie Dessay, Jennifer Larmore, Toby Spence, Simon Keenlyside, James Morris
Armida – May 1
Riccardo Frizza; Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Bruce Ford, José Manuel Zapata, Barry Banks, Kobie van Rensburg
Former General Manager Schuyler Chapin Dies at 86
March 10, 2009
The Metropolitan Opera mourns the death of Schuyler Chapin, who was our General Manager from 1972 to 1975. The company premieres of such important works as Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, Berlioz's Les Troyens, and Britten's Death in Venice took place under his leadership. Throughout his distinguished career, he was a devoted friend not only to the Met but to all of the arts in New York City. We offer our sincerest condolences to his wife Catia, his sons Henry, Ted, Sam, and Miles, his grandchildren, and to the rest of his family.
Meet Angela Gheorghiu at the Met Opera Shop
March 4, 2009
Angela Gheorghiu will make an in-store appearance at the new Met Opera Shop on Tuesday, March 10, between 12.30 and 2.30 pm. The star soprano, who will sing Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore in April and the title role in next seasons' new production of Carmen, will sign copies of her new CD, a complete recording of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The recording stars Jonas Kaufmann as Pinkerton and is conducted by Antonio Pappano. For more information, please contact the Met Opera Shop at 212-580-4090.
Free Open Rehearsal for La Sonnambula
February 14, 2009
The Met opens its doors to the general public for the final Open Rehearsal of the season. On Friday, February 27, at 11 am, audiences will get a preview of things to come with the final dress rehearsal for Mary Zimmerman’s new production of La Sonnambula, which premieres March 2. Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez, the stars of last season’s sold-out hit La Fille du Régiment, reunite in the leading roles and Evelino Pidò conducts.
Free tickets for this special event, limited to two per person, are available at the Met box office only starting Sunday, February 22, at 11 am.
The 2009–10 Season Announced!
February 11, 2009
New Season Announced | Subscribe Now | 2009-10 Season | Photo Gallery | Press Release | New Production videos
At a press conference yesterday, General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine revealed their plans for the Met’s 2009–10 season. The lineup includes eight new productions, four of which are Met premieres. Gelb and Levine were joined for the presentation by several of the artists who will be involved in next season’s new productions, including directors Mary Zimmerman and Bart Sher, sopranos Karita Mattila, Angela Gheorghiu and Natalie Dessay, and tenor Marcelo Álvarez. Artist William Kentridge, director Patrice Chéreau, and architect/designer Jacques Herzog introduced their plans on video.
The 2009–10 season opens on September 21 with a new production of Puccini’s Tosca directed by Luc Bondy and conducted by Levine. Mattila sings the title role for the first time outside her native Finland, opposite Alvarez as Cavaradossi. As in the previous seasons, the opening night performance will be transmitted live to Times Square.
Chéreau and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen both make Met debuts with the company premiere of Janácek’s From the House of the Dead, a production that has won acclaim across Europe. Sher returns to direct Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, conducted by Levine, with Rolando Villazón in the title role opposite Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, and René Pape. A new Carmen, starring Gheorghiu in the title role in her stage debut, will also feature the debuts of director Richard Eyre and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Verdi’s Attila marks another Met premiere. Ildar Abdrazakov sings the title role and the conductor and creative team all make their Met debuts: conductor Riccardo Muti, director Pierre Audi, and costume and set designers Miuccia Prada, Pierre de Meuron, and Herzog. Kentridge directs and designs the first Met staging of Shostakovich’s The Nose, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet will be seen in a new production by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, conducted by Louis Langrée and starring Simon Keenlyside in the title role and Dessay as Ophélie. The season’s final new production features Renée Fleming in Rossini’s Armida, another Met premiere, directed by Zimmerman and conducted by Riccardo Frizza.
Levine will also conduct revivals of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and Berg’s Lulu. “Approaching my 40th year with the company,” he said, “I’m sometimes asked if my work has diminished in terms of vitality and interest. On the contrary, it’s become more challenging and more exhilarating. I’m especially happy about next season because of the balance in the repertoire. I’m not usually someone who makes lists,” the Met’s long-time Music Director joked. “But we have five Verdi operas, four by Puccini, two by Mozart, three by Strauss, several bel canto works, five operas from the French repertoire, and Lulu, The Nose, and From the House of the Dead representing the 20th century. There’s only one Wagner, Der Fliegende Holländer, but that’s because we’re in between Rings.” Levine added that he was particularly glad about the “long list of very good conductors who will be coming for the first time and who will be coming back.”
For full details of the 2009–10 season read the press release.
125 Years of Met History at Saks Fifth Avenue
January 26, 2009
The Met's 125th anniversary has inspired Saks Fifth Avenue's first window display of the spring season, which was unveiled last weekend. The display combines accessories from the store's spring collection with original costumes from a century and a quarter of Met history. Some of the costumes on view include the hat and coat worn by Enrico Caruso in Pagliacci in 1903, Regina Resnik's dress from the 1965 The Queen of Spades, and a gown designed by Christian Lacroix for Renée Fleming in this season's new production of Thaïs. It's the third collaboration between Saks and the Met. Previous window displays were inspired by Anthony Minghella's production of Madama Butterfly and the 2007-08 season's new productions of Hansel and Gretel, Peter Grimes, and Satyagraha.
Fashion stylist Koji Yoshioka works on a Marc Chagall-designed
costume from the Met’s 1967 Zauberflöte.
Saks fashion director Steve Swirzcek inspects a dress
designed by Christian Lacroix that Renée Fleming wore
in the new production of Thaïs this month.
On Friday afternoon, Saks fashion director Steve Swirzcek was hard at work with his team to finish the display. “We put the costumes on the mannequins earlier,” he explained. “Now they're being steamed and the stylists put the finishing touches on them. Then we light the entire display so everything will be ready when we open the drapes tonight.”
Enrico Caruso wore this costume (at left) when he played Canio
in Pagliacci at the Met in 1903. Regina Resnik’s costume from
The Queen of Spades is prepared for the window display
by stylist Armando Cardenas (at right).
The window display has been extended and is on view through Monday, February 9.
Photos: Metropolitan Opera/Philipp Brieler
Select Your Own Seat
January 19, 2009
Buying your Met tickets online has become even more convenient. With our new "Select Your Own Seat" feature, you can pick your preferred seats in the opera house directly on our website, as an alternative to the “best available” option (which remains active). Once you’ve picked a performance, move your mouse over any section of the seating chart, and the available seats for that performance will become visible. Select a seat, and a pop-up box will indicate the seat number and price information. With a simple mouse click you can then move your chosen seats into your shopping cart and proceed to checkout.
Buy tickets now.
Stephanie Blythe Is “An Orfeo for the Ages“
January 15, 2009
“With each performance the American mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe gives, it becomes increasingly apparent that a once-in-a-generation opera singer has arrived,” the New York Times raves about Blythe’s appearance as Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. The revival of Mark Morris’s 2007 production opened last week at the Met. The Times praises Blythe's “vocally commanding and deeply poignant portrayal” and remarks that “there is no separation between vocal and dramatic gesture... [S]he can concentrate on singing with lyricism, intimacy, volatility or whatever the moment calls for.”
“[Blythe] is, quite simply, an Orfeo for the ages,” the Associated Press says, adding that she sings with “sublime beauty” and “remarkable smoothness.”
Opposite Blythe, soprano Danielle de Niese portrays Euridice with a “clear, shimmering voice,” in the words of the Associated Press. Music Director James Levine, the Times says, “elicits an articulate and majestic performance of this landmark work.”
Orfeo ed Euridice runs through January 24. The final performance will be shown in movie theaters around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD.
Read Q & A with Stephanie Blythe
Waltraud Meier Sings Isolde
December 11, 2008
Waltraud Meier will sing the role of Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde tomorrow night, replacing Katarina Dalayman, who is ill. Ms. Meier is a renowned Isolde who has frequently sung the role with Daniel Barenboim, the conductor for the Met performances. This will be her first appearance as Isolde at the Met. She is arriving this evening from Munich.
Meier first sang the female lead in Wagner's musical drama at the Bayreuth Festival in 1993 with Maestro Barenboim, a performance preserved on DVD. She has also performed the role with him at the Berlin State Opera, La Scala, and in concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she has been heard as Isolde at Munich's Bavarian State Opera, Paris's Opera Bastille, the Dresden State Opera, Madrid's Teatro Real, the Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera, and at the Salzburg Festival.
Meier made her Met debut as Fricka in Wagner's Das Rheingold in 1987 and has since sung here in the title roles of Carmen and Fidelio, and as Fricka in Die Walküre, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Kundry in Parsifal, and Venus in Tannhäuser. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Met Orchestra both in New York and on tour in Europe.
After missing two performances due to illness, Peter Seiffert will sing the role of Tristan as scheduled. Other members of the cast include Michelle DeYoung as Brangäne, Gerd Grochowski as Kurwenal, and Kwangchul Youn as King Marke. The production is by Dieter Dorn with sets and costume designs by Jürgen Rose.
The Met Gets a Holiday Tree
December 9, 2008
The construction on the plaza hasn't left room for Lincoln Center's giant holiday tree this season, so the Met is decorating its own tree on the exterior balcony of the opera house. Decorated and lit by the Met's Scenic, Construction and Electric Departments, the 28-foot blue spruce, donated by General Manager Peter Gelb and his wife, Keri-Lynn Wilson, was delivered courtesy of Daybreak Express, which stores and ships Met scenery. The tree will be lit in a special ceremony, on Wednesday, December 10, at 5:30 p.m. The Met's Children's Chorus will be on hand to sing carols, accompanied by members of the brass section of the Met Orchestra, who are all volunteering their talents to spread some holiday cheer. Sheet music to sing along will be available, and hot chocolate will be served compliments of Patina.
Give the Gift of Met Player This Holiday Season!
December 1, 2008
Met Player, the new online subscription streaming service from the Met, is the perfect holiday gift for opera lovers this season. An annual subscription to Met Player provides access anytime and as often as you like to nearly 200 full-length operas, including more than a dozen stunning productions from the first two seasons of The Met: Live in HD, the company's award-winning live high-definition performance transmissions to movie theaters around the world. Met Player also features classic PBS telecasts and historic radio broadcast recordings.
New operas will be added to Met Player every month, so the recipient of your gift can look forward to enjoying this growing catalog of exciting Met performances all year long. By mid-December, the first full-length opera from this season’s Live in HD presentations, Richard Strauss’s Salome starring Karita Mattila in the title role, will be available on Met Player, with more HD performances to follow in 2009.
An annual subscription to Met Player can be purchased as a gift for $149.99 by calling (212) 362-6000 (Monday through Saturday, 10 am – 8 pm ET, and Sundays, 12 pm – 6 pm ET.) Or visit the new Met Opera Shop, where you can also experience Met Player on an interactive touch screen. When you purchase a gift subscription, you will receive a Met Player card with all of the information your gift recipient will need to activate his or her account.
All sales are final, and customers are encouraged to review the technical requirements for Met Player before purchasing a subscription.
Experience Met Player
New Met Opera Shop Now Open
November 26, 2008
The Met Opera Shop is back! The opening of the completely reconceived and renovated space was celebrated on Monday afternoon with a reception and press preview before the store opened its doors to the public yesterday. Located in the Met’s north lobby adjacent to the box office, it offers a wide selection of CDs, DVDs, and books, as well as a lineup of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces inspired by architectural elements of the opera house, Moleskine notebooks embossed with the Met’s gold curtain motif, iPods, opera glasses, calendars, flipbooks and jigsaw puzzles based on images from Met productions, mugs and T-shirts featuring the Met logo, and fine chocolates by La Maison du Chocolat. Among the unique items are crystals from the Met’s starburst chandeliers and Japanese artist Kazuhiko Tanaka’s handmade figurines inspired by Anthony Minghella’s production of Madama Butterfly. New items will be added throughout the season. Customers can listen to any CD in the store on special listening stations in the Music Room before making a purchase. You can also experience Met Player, the company’s new online subscription service, on an interactive touch screen.
The Met Opera Shop is open Monday through Saturday from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. (or end of second intermission) and Sundays from noon to 6 P.M. It can be reached at 212-580-4090. The online store will reopen in 2009.
Marcello Giordani Sings Two Roles in One Day
November 24, 2008
“Do opera singers get days off?” the New York Times asked today, referring to Marcello Giordani. The Sicilian tenor got only a few hours off on Saturday when he pulled off the impressive feat of singing two major roles back to back at the Met. After performing the title role in the matinee of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, seen live around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series, he was back on stage at night as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.
Giordani, seen here, at right, with HD transmission interviewer Thomas Hampson and co-star John Relyea during intermission, joined the group of a handful of opera stars who have performed two roles in one day with the Met.
Photo: Metropolitan Opera/Marty Sohl
Marcello Giordani Plays the Hero Again!
November 22, 2008
The Metropolitan Opera is grateful to tenor Marcello Giordani, who will perform the rare feat of singing two major roles in a single day at the Metropolitan Opera today. He starred in the demanding title role of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust in a matinee performance that began at 1:00 p.m. and was transmitted live to movie theaters worldwide as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Then, with only a few hours' break, Giordani will step in and sing the leading tenor role of Pinkerton in this evening's performance of Madama Butterfly at 8:00 p.m., replacing an ailing colleague. "Marcello really is the Iron Man of tenors," General Manager Peter Gelb said today.
Because of the vocal demands of a major opera role, most singers only perform two or three times a week. Today, Giordani joins a short list of singers, including Eleanor Steber, Roberta Peters, and Giuseppe Giacomini, who have tackled two leading roles in one day on the Met stage.
Giordani's feat is reminiscent of the beginning of last season. In October 2007, while in mid-run as Edgardo in the season-opening new production of Lucia di Lammermoor, he stepped in at the last minute as Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, learning the unfamiliar staging right before the performance and during intermission. Ten days later, he made a surprise appearance as Pinkerton when he took over the role from Roberto Alagna, who replaced yet another ailing colleague as Radamès in Aida the following night.
2008 Opera News Awards
November 14, 2008
The fourth annual Opera News Awards will be presented this Sunday, November 16, at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. This year’s honorees include composer John Adams, sopranos Natalie Dessay and Renée Fleming, mezzo-soprano and opera legend Marilyn Horne, and baritone Sherrill Milnes. Susan Graham, who hosted last year’s presentation, will reprise her turn as master of ceremonies. She is joined for the occasion by co-host Thomas Hampson. The awards, which pay tribute to distinguished achievement in the world of opera, will be presented by Plácido Domingo, Alan Gilbert, Garrison Keillor, James Levine, and Marian Seldes. For more information and tickets, starting at $400, visit www.metguild.org.
Tenor Robert Nagy Dies at Age 79
November 14, 2008
Robert Nagy, who sang over 1,100 performances with the Met between 1957 and 1988, died last week in Lorain, Ohio. Born on March 3, 1929, he studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music before winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1955. He made his Met debut in La Traviata two years later. Acclaimed for his powerful, dramatic voice, he went on to sing with the company in 57 different operas, making his final appearance in Alban Berg’s Lulu on April 16, 1988. The Met mourns his loss.
NEA Opera Honors Presented Tonight
October 31, 2008
Met Music Director James Levine, soprano Leontyne Price, composer Carlisle Floyd, and arts administrator Richard Gaddes are this year's recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors. The honors, which will be presented tonight in Washington, D.C., in a ceremony co-hosted by Washington National Opera and Opera America, are given to "individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to opera in the United States and have become cultural treasures of the nation." The presentation, which takes place at the Harman Center for the Arts, will feature performances by soprano Sondra Radvanovsky and singers from the Washington National Opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.
For more information, visit the NEA website at www.nea.gov/honors/opera.
An Emmy for Live in HD
October 30, 2008
The Met: Live in HD has won an Emmy Award! The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced this season’s winners in the Technology & Engineering categories this week, and the company’s groundbreaking series of live high-definition performance transmissions to movie theaters around the world was among the winners. The Academy cited the Met's achievement in “advancing technology through ongoing, live, global transmission of high-definition programming to movie theaters.” The 60th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards will be presented on January 7, 2009, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Telecasts of individual Met productions have previously won seven Emmys, with the most recent win for a 1998 Carmen.
Open Rehearsal: La Damnation de Faust
October 27, 2008
Watch the video preview | Q & A with Robert Lepage | Free open rehearsal | Buy tickets
The Met opens its doors for a special preview of Robert Lepage’s new production of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust with a free final dress rehearsal on Tuesday, November 4, at 11 A.M. The visionary theater artist makes his Met debut with an innovative production that uses state-of-the-art technology to deepen the story’s emotional impact and heighten the work’s theatricality. Met Music Director James Levine, who calls La Damnation de Faust “an absolute masterpiece from beginning to end,” conducts the rarely staged work.
Marcello Giordani stars in the title role, opposite Susan Graham as Marguerite and John Relyea as Méphistophélès.
Free tickets for this special event, limited to two per person, will be available only at the Met box office starting at noon on Sunday, November 2.
The Met: Celebrating 125 Years
October 22, 2008
On October 22, 1883–exactly 125 years ago today–the Met first opened its doors with a performance of Gounod's Faust. The opera house, then located on Broadway and 39th Street, served as the company's home for more than eight decades. In 1966, the Met moved to its new home at Lincoln Center. Throughout this 125th anniversary season, the Met will be celebrating its unparalleled history, on stage and off–presenting six new productions, 18 revivals, the final appearance of the classic production of Wagner's Ring cycle, the 125th Anniversary Gala on March 15, 2009, and other special events. An exhibition of images from the Met Archives, Nights at the Opera: 125 Years, is currently on view in Founders Hall.
Diana Damrau Triumphs as Lucia
October 7, 2008
Buy tickets to Lucia di Lammermoor | Video: Damrau takes on Lucia | Photo Gallery with Audio
Diana Damrau made a stunning debut as Lucia at the Met last Friday. The “brilliant young German coloratura soprano,” as the New York Times called her, was singing the title role of Donizetti’s bel canto tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor for the first time in her career, and she “dispatched the passage work, trills and top notes with aplomb.” Praising Damrau’s “warm, plush and clear” sound and “gleaming top notes,” the Times raves about her delivery of the opera’s most famous solo, the Act III mad scene. “That Ms. Damrau executed the spiraling vocal roulades so accurately and held sustained tones with such penetrating steadiness lent a quality of eerie control to Lucia’s madness.” The Associated Press adds, “There’s a wonderful expressiveness in the way [Damrau] modulates her tone and shapes the melodic line to fit the emotional moment.”
Polish tenor Piotr Beczala had an equally successful night in the role of her lover. He sang an "impassioned" Edgardo with "poignant colorings and virile intensity," according to the Times. Both were joined by Ildar Abdrazakov as Raimondo, Sean Panikkar as Arturo, and Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov, who made his Met debut as Enrico. Marco Armiliato conducted a "stylish performance."
A visibly delighted Damrau was greeted with a thunderous ovation at the curtain call, and, as the New York Times reported, "took to the stage like a rock star, looking exultant."
There are six more performances of Lucia di Lammermoor through the end of October. The production returns in January with a different cast.
Plácido Domingo: 40 Years at the Met
September 30, 2008
On September 28, 1968, a 27-year-old Plácido Domingo made his Met debut, stepping in at the last minute for Franco Corelli in a performance of Adriana Lecouvreur. On Sunday night, 40 years to the day after this memorable occasion, the great tenor was honored with an onstage dinner, musical tribute, and the unveiling of a new portrait by Julian Schnabel. The celebration kicked off with a cocktail reception on the Mercedes T. Bass Grand Tier, followed by dinner on the stage, which had been decorated with giant photo banners of Domingo in some of his most acclaimed Met roles.
General Manager Peter Gelb welcomed the guests, including Woody Allen, Barbara Walters, composer Ricky Ian Gordon, and singers Martina Arroyo, Olga Borodina, Barbara Daniels, Justino Díaz, Mignon Dunn, and Sherrill Milnes. Gelb addressed Domingo as "someone who is more than a legend. Throughout his career," he said, "Plácido has fused drama and music into a higher form of art." Gelb went on to explain that when he was named General Manager four years ago, the 2008–09 season was supposed to be Domingo's swan song at the Met. "But since his career has miraculously outlived any reasonable expectations of longevity," he said, "I'm happy to tell you that we have plans with Plácido for the coming seasons. To paraphrase Mel Brooks," Gelb added, "'If you got him, flaunt him.'"
A short film of highlights from Domingo's Met performances–among them Otello, La Traviata, Tosca, La Fanciulla del West, and The First Emperor–also included a clip of his appearance on The Muppet Show opposite Miss Piggy, to the delight of everyone present. Fellow tenor José Carreras then began the musical tributes with a song by Carlo Valente. Taking a moment to remember the late Luciano Pavarotti and their joint appearances as the "Three Tenors," Carreras then announced that it was time to pass the torch to a new trio. Enter Patricia Racette, Susan Graham, and Deborah Voigt, dressed in tuxedos and–once these had been ripped off to a flash of lightning–matching gowns, who performed a humorous medley of favorite soprano showpieces. The opening trio, "Three Little Maids from School Are We" from The Mikado, drew waves of laughter from the audience, as did excerpts from La Bohème, The Merry Widow (sung in Spanish), and Die Walküre. The medley ended with a rousing rendition of the "Three Tenors" signature aria, "Nessun dorma" from Turandot.
In between courses of the dinner (which included "Aubergines Otello," "Paella à la Plácido," and "Cavaradossi's Torta delle Stelle"), the tributes continued, with appearances by Erwin Schrott and Lisette Oropesa (both winners of Domingo's Operalia Competition), who performed "La cì darem la mano" from Don Giovanni, and tenor Piotr Beczala, who sang "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto.
Met Music Director James Levine began his very personal thanks to Domingo by reading the titles of the 27 operas the two have performed together at the Met. "We've worked together for almost 40 years in perfect harmony," Levine said. "Plácido is like a brother to me."
The celebration ended with the unveiling of a portrait of Domingo, created by acclaimed artist Julian Schnabel and commissioned by the Met, which will be on display on the Grand Tier. Domingo then took the stage himself, accompanied by a standing ovation, to thank his family, friends, colleagues, and the Met. "This has been a very emotional evening," he said, visibly moved. "I have been crying most of the time. When I first sang at the Met I was the youngest person on the roster," Domingo continued. "Now I'm the oldest, at least as far as singers are concerned. The Met is my home as an artist. This stage is the most beautiful place in the world, and I'm proud to still be able to sing."
Domingo will reprise the role of his Met debut, Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, in February. He also stars this season as Siegmund in Die Walküre.
–Philipp Brieler
Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
View photo gallery of Plácido Domingo’s 40th Anniversary Celebration
125 Years of Met History in Pictures
September 30, 2008
A special exhibition of images from the Met Archives is currently on view in Founders Hall to celebrate the company's 125th anniversary. The centerpiece of Nights at the Opera: 125 Years, a tribute to the Met's unparalleled history, is a wall of more than 750 photos of artists from the early days to the present, whose names are inextricably linked to the Met. The show also includes illustrations, media clippings, and other gems from the company's storied past. It is open to ticket holders before and during performances. Founders Hall is located on the Concourse level of the lobby. Read more
The Met's 125th Anniversary Season Has Opened
September 22, 2008
The Met's largest ever opening night audience watched and listened as soprano Renée Fleming kicked off the company's 125th anniversary season with the Opening Night Gala tonight at 6.30 P.M. When the curtain went up on the second act of Verdi's La Traviata–followed by Act III from Massenet's Manon and the final scene of Strauss's Capriccio–the crowd at the opera house was joined by thousands who watched the live transmissions at Fordham University's North Meadow across the street from Lincoln Center, on giant screens in Times Square, and in movie theaters in North and South America. The performance was also streamed live on the Met website and transmitted on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. Before the performance, transmission host Susan Graham welcomed guests for interviews on the red carpet, including soprano Diana Damrau, who will make her debut in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor later this fall, composer Nico Muhly, and painter Francesco Clemente, whose exhibition The Sopranos, featuring portraits of eight Met divas, is on display in Gallery Met through the end of this week. Following a rousing rendition of the national anthem, Music Director James Levine launched into Verdi's masterpiece, with tenor Ramón Vargas and baritone Thomas Hampson taking the stage opposite Fleming as son and father Germont. During intermission, Graham took viewers backstage for an interview with Fleming. Coming right off the stage, the soprano talked about the connection between Violetta and Manon, before heading to her dressing room to make the physical transformation from one character to the other. The costumes Fleming wore for tonight's performance were specially created for the occasion by Christian Lacroix (La Traviata), Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel (Manon), and John Galliano (Capriccio).
In conversation with Levine, Graham gave a preview of the new production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust by Canadian theater artist Robert Lepage, which will premiere in November, starring Graham and conducted by Levine. Fleming and Vargas then returned to the stage for Manon, for which they were joined by Dwayne Croft and Robert Lloyd as Lescaut and Count des Grieux, and by Marco Armiliato in the pit. Another of the Met's upcoming new productions, the company premiere of John Adams's Doctor Atomic, was introduced during the following intermission by Deborah Voigt, who served as the evening's Times Square correspondent and interviewed Penny Woolcock, who will direct Doctor Atomic. The renowned filmmaker, who is making her opera debut with this production, had taken the trip from Lincoln Center down to 42nd Street to watch the third and last act of the Opening Night Gala, the final scene from Strauss's Capriccio, among the audience in the heart of New York City. Other interview guests at the Met and Times Square included Martha Stewart, who demonstrated the creation of a cocktail called "Grande Dame," which she dedicated to Fleming, author and opera lover Ann Patchett, baritone and Tony Award winner Paulo Szot, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Met's new Technical Director John Sellars was also on hand to explain what was going on onstage during the scene change from Manon to Capriccio. Fleming's rendition of the 20-minute solo tour-de-force of that opera's final scene, conducted by Patrick Summers, was received with a thunderous standing ovation that ended this first night of the Met's 125th anniversary season.
The 2008–09 season, which runs through May 9, features six new productions, 18 revivals, and the final appearance on the Met stage of Otto Schenk's classic production of Wagner's Ring cycle.
Requiem for Luciano Pavarotti
September 18, 2008
With just four days to go to the opening of the Met's 125th anniversary season, an audience of almost 4,000 assembled at the opera house this afternoon for a special pre-season concert featuring Verdi's Requiem, in memory of Luciano Pavarotti who died on September 6 a year ago. Free tickets to the event had been distributed through a lottery on the Met website. Music Director James Levine conducted the Met Chorus and Orchestra, with soloists Barbara Frittoli, Olga Borodina, Marcello Giordani, and Ildar Abdrazakov. "It's very emotional for all of us to sing this religious piece in Luciano's memory today," Giordani said before the concert. "He was a great mentor and a great inspiration for me and all singers of my generation, and I think he will be for future generations. I'm honored and moved to be here. But it's also a challenge because I want to deliver a good performance that he would have been proud of." Frittoli had similar thoughts of Pavarotti's influence on her career. "When I won the Pavarotti competition in 1992, it was really the start of everything. I first worked with him when I was very young... Not so long ago, I saw him when we were both among the guests in a TV show in Italy. He was still happy, even though he was very ill. That was the last time I spoke to him."
Following the stirring and emotional performance of Verdi's masterpiece, the audience remained uncharacteristically silent for several seconds before thanking the artists with a five-minute standing ovation. After the concert, reactions among listeners were unanimously heartfelt and thankful. "It was wonderful," said Solange Abunassar, a retired doctor, opera lover, and frequent visitor of the Met for the past 40 years. "I live across the street, so I see a lot of performances. But this was the first time I've ever heard a live performance of the Verdi Requiem." She has a very special and personal memory of Pavarotti. "I heard him sing a number of times. But once after a performance, my sister took a picture of him and me at the stage door. He didn't want to be photographed and raised his arms but she took the picture anyway. Later, when I showed it to my husband, he said, It looks like he's singing an aria just for you!"
Today's tribute brought music lovers of all ages to the Met. 24-year-old Michael Pagan from New Jersey, who considers himself "definitely an opera person," recalled the first time he heard the great tenor. "I was 14 and went to see a dress rehearsal with him at the Met–I think it was Tosca. I'm so glad I won a ticket and could be here today. It was a great performance."
Domingo to Reprise the Role of His Met Debut!
August 20, 2008
Forty years ago, on September 28, 1968, Plácido Domingo made a heroic Met debut, stepping in at the last minute for an ailing colleague as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur. Now the legendary tenor will once again come to the rescue, relinquishing conducting duties to sing the role of his debut on the Met stage for the first time since 1983.
Tenor Marcelo Álvarez was previously scheduled to sing this part, but when he was added to the roster for the new production of Il Trovatore, in which he’ll star as Manrico, there became a void in the cast for Adriana. Enter Domingo, who will be feted on the occasion of his ruby anniversary with the company with an onstage dinner in his honor and at the Met’s 125th anniversary gala on March 15, 2009.
Maurizio is one of 45 Met roles for Domingo, who will sing all performances except February 17. Marco Armiliato will conduct the run.