The Metropolitan Operas 2015-16 Season Opens September 21
With a New Staging of Verdis Masterpiece Otello,
Conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Directed by Bartlett Sher
Aleksandrs Antonenko, one of the worlds leading interpreters of Otello,
sings his first Met performances of the role, opposite
Sonya Yoncheva as Desdemona and ®eljko Luèiæ as the villainous Iago
Opening night will be transmitted to a Times Square audience of
more than 2,000 opera lovers; inside the house, $25 rush tickets will be available for the first time in company history
New York, NY (September 11, 2015) The Metropolitan Opera will open its 131st season on Monday, September 21 with a new production of Verdis Otello. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met opening night, a staging by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher of the late Verdi masterpiece based on Shakespeares tragic drama of jealousy and deceit. Aleksandrs Antonenko, who has starred as the doomed Otello around the world to acclaim, makes his Met role debut opposite rising Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in her first-ever performances of Otellos innocent wife Desdemona. ®eljko Luèiæ adds a new role to his company repertory as the evil Iago, as do Dimitri Pittas as Iagos pawn Cassio and Günther Groissböck as the Venetian ambassador Lodovico. Shers staging will feature scenic design by acclaimed designer Es Devlin in her Met debut; costume design by six-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber; lighting design by two-time Tony winner Donald Holder; and video design by Luke Halls in his Met debut.
As part of the Mets ongoing commitment to making opera more accessible to all audiences, the opening night performance will be broadcast for free to numerous giant screens in Times Square. Also, for the first time in history, the companys Rush Tickets program will be extended to include opening night, allowing at least 100 lucky opera lovers to purchase $25 orchestra tickets to the gala performance. In addition, the October 17 matinee will be transmitted worldwide as part of the tenth season of the Mets Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world.
Beginning April 20, Otello returns for a run of spring performances, with Adam Fischer conducting a second cast led by Antonenko and Luèiæ, with Hibla Gerzmava in her role debut as Desdemona, Alexey Dolgov as Cassio, and James Morris as Lodovico.
Further information, including biographies of principal artists, is available in our online press room here.
Performances: September 21, 24, 28; October 2, 56, 10mat, 14, 17mat; April 20, 23mat, 28; May 2, 6. Curtain times vary: complete schedule here. Running time: 2 hours, 57 minutes, including one intermission.
Tickets begin at $25; for prices, more information, or to place an order, please call (212) 362-6000 or visit www.metopera.org. Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling (212) 341-5410 or visiting www.metopera.org/groups.
Same-day $25 rush tickets for all performances of Otello are available on a first-come, first-served basis on the Mets Web site. Tickets will go on sale for performances Monday-Friday at noon, matinees four hours before curtain, and Saturday evenings at 2pm. To enter, click here.
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