The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 Season—Its 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center—Will Feature 225 Performances of 26 Operas, With Six New Productions, Including a Met Premiere
The season opens September 26 with a new staging of Wagner’s epic tragedy
Tristan und Isolde, starring Nina Stemme
Kaija Saariaho’s 2000 opera L’Amour de Loin will have its Met premiere on December 1; other new productions this season include Guillaume Tell (October 18), Roméo et Juliette (December 31), Rusalka (February 2), and Der Rosenkavalier (April 13)
The company’s stars will gather to celebrate 50 years of the Met at Lincoln Center in a special gala performance on May 7, 2017
Ticket prices will remain the same as in the current season, complemented by a range of audience development initiatives including the return of Student, Rush, and “Fridays Under 40” programs
The Met: Live in HD will feature 10 live transmissions, beginning October 8 with the 100th transmission in series history, Tristan und Isolde
New York, NY (February 17, 2016)—The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, will feature 225 opera performances of 26 operas in a varied repertory that ranges from 18th century masterpieces to one of the most acclaimed operas in recent years. Repertoire for the company’s 132nd season will include the Met premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s 2000 opera L’Amour de Loin, as well as new stagings of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Dvořák’s Rusalka, and Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. A gala concert on May 7, 2017 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company’s Lincoln Center location with performances by opera’s leading stars honoring the Met’s past and future. Ticket prices will not increase, remaining the same as in the current season, and audience development programs instituted by the company in recent years will continue.
The season opens on September 26 with a new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, directed by Mariusz Treliński, and starring the world’s preeminent Isolde, Nina Stemme, opposite Stuart Skelton as Tristan. On October 18, Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the premiere of Pierre Audi’s new staging of Rossini’s Guillaume Tell, familiar to music lovers for its famous overture. The opera has not been staged by the Met since 1931 and never before in its original French. The new production will star Gerald Finley, Marina Rebeka, and Bryan Hymel in the central roles. On December 1, L’Amour de Loin, a meditation on idealized love set in the medieval era, has its Met premiere, led by Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki in her company debut, directed by Robert Lepage, and starring Susanna Phillips, Tamara Mumford, and Eric Owens. A new production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette will open on New Year’s Eve, with Gianandrea Noseda conducting Bartlett Sher’s staging and Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo as the star-crossed lovers. Rusalka (opening February 2), conducted by Sir Mark Elder and directed by Mary Zimmerman, will star Kristine Opolais in the title role of a water nymph who falls in love with a human prince, sung by Brandon Jovanovich. On April 13, the company will unveil its first new staging in more than 40 years of Richard Strauss’s wistful comedy Der Rosenkavalier, conducted by Met Music Director James Levine and directed by Robert Carsen, with Renée Fleming in her signature role of the Marschallin and Elīna Garanča in her company role debut as Octavian; Günther Groissböck sings Baron Ochs.
The Met: Live in HD series, which transmits Met performances to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world, continues for its 11th season. Ten performances from the season will be broadcast, beginning October 8 with the 100th transmission in series history, the new production of Tristan und Isolde.
The 2016-17 season was announced by Met General Manager Peter Gelb.
“Met audiences should be stimulated by our ever-expanding repertoire, which this season includes the new with L’Amour de Loin and the old with Guillaume Tell,” said Gelb. “We’re proud to be celebrating our five decades at Lincoln Center, including 40 years under the musical leadership of James Levine.”
Further details on new productions, repertory, special events, ticket prices and audience development initiatives, the Live in HD series, and more are available below. A separate press release focused on the Live in HD transmissions is also available from the Met press office.
New Productions
Tristan und Isolde – Richard Wagner OPENING NIGHT
Opening: September 26, 2016
Conductors: Sir Simon Rattle/Asher Fisch
Production: Mariusz Treliński
Set Designer: Boris Kudlička
Costume Designer: Marek Adamski
Lighting Designer: Marc Heinz
Projection Designer: Bartek Macias
Choreographer: Tomasz Wygoda
Live in HD: October 8, 2016
The season opens with a new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in his first Met performances since his 2010 debut. Nina Stemme makes her company role debut as Isolde—a touchstone role she has sung with major opera companies around the world. Her Tristan is Australian heldentenor Stuart Skelton, who sang Siegmund in the Met’s Ring cycle in 2013. The cast also includes Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne and Evgeny Nikitin as Kurwenal (both in Met role debuts), with René Pape reprising King Marke, a role he has sung to acclaim in three previous Met seasons. The staging, by Mariusz Treliński (who directed the 2015 Met double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle) is a co-production with the Festival Hall Baden-Baden, Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, and China National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Beijing.
Guillaume Tell – Gioachino Rossini
Opening: October 18, 2016
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Production: Pierre Audi
Set Designer: George Tsypin
Costume Designer: Andrea Schmidt-Futterer
Lighting Designer: Jean Kalman
Choreographer: Kim Brandstrup
Guillaume Tell returns to the Met after more than 80 years in a new staging by Pierre Audi, with a starry cast taking on the demanding principal roles in Rossini’s opera about the legendary Swiss folk hero William Tell. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the performances, which will star Gerald Finley in the title role, Marina Rebeka as Mathilde, Bryan Hymel as Arnold, Janai Brugger as Jemmy, Marianna Pizzolato in her Met debut as Hedwige, Marco Spotti in his Met debut as Walter Furst, Kwangchul Youn as Melcthal, and John Relyea as Gesler. Guillaume Tell is a co-production with the Dutch National Opera, where this staging premiered in 2013.
L’Amour de Loin – Kaija Saariaho MET PREMIERE
Opening: December 1, 2016
Libretto: Amin Maalouf
Conductor: Susanna Mälkki
Production: Robert Lepage
Set Designer: Michael Curry
Costume Designer: Michael Curry
Lighting Designer: Kevin Adams
Lightscape Image Designer: Lionel Arnould
Live in HD: December 10, 2016
One of the most highly praised operas of recent years, which had its premiere at the Salzburg Festival in 2000, Kaija Saariaho’s yearning medieval romance L’Amour de Loin (“Love From Afar”), has its Met premiere on December 1. The production is by Robert Lepage, co-produced with L’Opéra de Québec, where it premiered to acclaim last summer, in collaboration with Ex Machina. Susanna Mälkki leads the performances, which will star Susanna Phillips as Clémence, Eric Owens as Jaufré, and Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim who carries messages of love between them. L’Amour de Loin is one of several Saariaho events taking place in New York this fall, including performances at the Park Avenue Armory with the New York Philharmonic; at the Juilliard School; and a residency by the composer at the Mannes School of Music.
Roméo et Juliette – Charles Gounod NEW YEAR’S EVE GALA
Opening: December 31, 2016
Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda
Production: Bartlett Sher
Set Designer: Michael Yeargan
Costume Designer: Catherine Zuber
Lighting Designed By: Jennifer Tipton
Choreographer: Chase Brock
Live in HD: January 21, 2017
The electrifying team of Vittorio Grigolo and Diana Damrau, who starred together in last year’s Manon, reunites for a new production of Gounod’s opera based on the Shakespeare play. Damrau makes her role debut as Juliette in Bartlett Sher’s new production, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. Elliot Madore sings Mercutio and Mikhail Petrenko sings Frère Laurent. Later performances will star Pretty Yende and Stephen Costello in the title roles. Sher’s staging is a La Scala production, initially presented by the Salzburg Festival, where it premiered in 2008.
Rusalka – Antonin Dvořák
Opening: February 2, 2017
Conductor: Sir Mark Elder
Production: Mary Zimmerman
Set Designer: Daniel Ostling
Costume Designer: Mara Blumenfeld
Lighting Designer: T.J. Gerckens
Choreographer: Austin McCormick
Live in HD: February 25, 2017
Kristine Opolais sings her first Met performances of the role that won her international acclaim, the tragic water nymph Rusalka. Sir Mark Elder conducts a new staging of Dvořák’s fairy-tale opera directed by Mary Zimmerman, also starring Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince who captures Rusalka’s heart; Katarina Dalayman as her rival, the Foreign Princess; Eric Owens as the Water Sprite, Rusalka’s father; and Jamie Barton as the duplicitous witch Ježibaba.
Der Rosenkavalier – Richard Strauss
Opening: April 13, 2017
Conductor: James Levine
Production: Robert Carsen
Set Designer: Paul Steinberg
Costume Designer: Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designers: Robert Carsen, Peter Van Praet
Live in HD: May 13, 2017
The Met’s first new production since 1969 of Strauss’s rich romantic masterpiece will be conducted by Music Director James Levine and directed by Robert Carsen, whose most recent Met production was the hit 2013 staging of Falstaff. Renée Fleming will sing one of her signature roles as the Marschallin, opposite Elīna Garanča in her first North American performances as Octavian, the impulsive young title character. The cast also includes Günther Groissböck as Baron Ochs, Erin Morley as Sophie, Marcus Brück in his Met debut as Faninal, and Matthew Polenzani as the Italian Singer. Der Rosenkavalier is a co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Teatro Regio di Torino.
50th Anniversary Gala
On May 7, 2017, many of the company’s most prominent singers will perform at a special anniversary gala honoring the 50th anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center. The fully staged gala will pay tribute to the company’s storied past and look ahead to the future, with some artists previewing roles they will perform in upcoming Met seasons. Artists scheduled to appear include Piotr Beczala, Ben Bliss, Javier Camarena, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Plácido Domingo, Michael Fabiano, Renée Fleming, Juan Diego Flórez, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Elīna Garanča, Susan Graham, Mariusz Kwiecien, Isabel Leonard, James Levine, Željko Lučić, Amanda Majeski, Angela Meade, James Morris, Anna Netrebko, Kristine Opolais, Eric Owens, René Pape, Matthew Polenzani, Rolando Villazón, Michael Volle, Pretty Yende, and Sonya Yoncheva. The event will feature direction and scenic design by Julian Crouch, costume design by Kevin Pollard, and projection design by 59 Productions,
Repertory Highlights
The 2016-17 season will feature 20 revivals of works by 13 composers, starring many of the world’s leading opera singers and conductors.
Anna Netrebko will add a new role to her Met repertory when she stars in a revival of Richard Eyre’s new production of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (which premiered at the Met last week), opposite Marcelo Álvarez as des Grieux and Christopher Maltman as Lescaut. Marco Armiliato will conduct.
Netrebko will also reprise one of her greatest successes in recent years, the heroine Tatiana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, this time paired with fellow Russian superstar Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Onegin. Alexey Dolgov will sing Lenski in the revival, conducted by Robin Ticciati.
Five works not heard at the Met in recent years will be part of the 2016-17 season. James Levine will conduct a rare revival of Mozart’s Idomeneo, starring Matthew Polenzani in the title role of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s production. The rest of the cast includes Elza van den Heever as Elettra, Nadine Sierra as Ilia, Alice Coote as Idamante, and Alan Opie as Arbace.
Levine also leads a revival of Rossini’s lighthearted L’Italiana in Algeri, also in a Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production. The charismatic young cast is headed by Elizabeth DeShong as Isabella, debuting American tenor René Barbera as Lindoro, Nicola Alaimo as Taddeo, and Ildar Abdrazakov as Mustafà.
Janáček’s searing small-town tragedy Jenůfa will star Oksana Dyka in the title role, with the star of the most recent Met revival, Karita Mattila, taking on the new role of the fanatical Kostelnička. The cast, led by David Robertson, also includes Hanna Schwarz, Daniel Brenna, and Joseph Kaiser.
Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac will star Roberto Alagna and Patricia Racette as the lovelorn title character and his beloved Roxane, both in company role debuts. Marco Armiliato, who led the opera’s U.S. premiere at the Met in 2005, returns to conduct the revival.
Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, will be presented for the first time since 2006, with Sebastian Weigle conducting Adrianne Pieczonka as Leonore, Klaus Florian Vogt as Florestan, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller in her Met debut as Marzelline, Greer Grimsley as Don Pizarro, and Falk Struckmann as Rocco.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct his first Wagner opera at the Met when he leads a revival of Der Fliegende Holländer, starring Michael Volle as the Dutchman and Amber Wagner as Senta. The cast also features Jay Hunter Morris as Erik, Dolora Zajick as Mary, Ben Bliss as the Steuermann, and Franz-Josef Selig as Daland.
Diana Damrau and Javier Camarena, who starred together to acclaim in Bellini’s La Sonnambula at the Met in 2014, will re-team for another opera by the same composer, I Puritani. Maurizio Benini conducts a cast that also includes Alexey Markov and Luca Pisaroni.
Peter Mattei will star in the title role of Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, opposite Pretty Yende, who returns to the Met to sing a new bel canto heroine, Rosina. Javier Camarena and Dmitry Korchak sing Almaviva in the revival, conducted by Maurizio Benini.
Richard Strauss’s Salome will star American soprano Catherine Naglestad (in her Met debut) as the shockingly amoral title character, a role she has sung to acclaim around the world. Debuting conductor Johannes Debus, Music Director of the Canadian Opera Company, leads a cast that also features Gerhard Siegel and Željko Lučić in new Met roles as King Herod and the doomed prophet Jochanaan, respectively.
Four Verdi revivals will be presented in 2016-17. Aida will feature Liudmyla Monastyrska and Latonia Moore reprising their roles as the title princess, alternating with Krassimira Stoyanova in her first Met performances of the role. Ekaterina Gubanova and Violeta Urmana sing Amneris, and Marco Berti, Riccardo Massi, and debuting tenor Jorge de León sing the hero Radamès. The opera will be conducted by Marco Armiliato and, in his Met debut, Daniele Rustioni.
Nabucco, conducted by Levine, will feature Plácido Domingo in a new Met role as the title character. Liudmyla Monastyrska sings Nabucco’s willful daughter Abigaille, with Jamie Barton as Fenena, Russell Thomas as Ismaele, and Dmitry Belosselskiy reprising the role of his 2011 Met debut as Zaccaria.
Rigoletto, conducted by Pier Giorgio Morandi in his Met debut, will star Željko Lučić as the title character, Stephen Costello and Joseph Calleja as the Duke of Mantua, and Olga Peretyatko as Gilda.
La Traviata, conducted by Nicola Luisotti, will star Sonya Yoncheva and Carmen Giannattasio as Violetta, Michael Fabiano and Atalla Ayan (in his Met debut) as Alfredo, and Thomas Hampson, George Petean, and Plácido Domingo as Giorgio Germont.
Yoncheva will also star in the opening performances of a revival of Puccini’s La Bohème, singing Mimì opposite the Rodolfo of debuting tenor Dmytro Popov. The season’s performances also feature Kristine Opolais and Ailyn Pérez as Mimì, Susanna Phillips and debuting soprano Brigitta Kele as Musetta, and Piotr Beczala and Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo. The revival will be conducted by Carlo Rizzi and Marco Armiliato.
Two French mezzo-sopranos will share the title role of Bizet’s Carmen: Sophie Koch, who made her Met debut in 2014 as Charlotte in Werther, and debuting artist Clémentine Margaine. Maria Agresta, who made a notable company debut as Mimì in the current season, will sing her first Met performances of Micaëla, opposite Marcelo Álvarez as Don José and Kyle Ketelsen as the toreador Escamillo. The performances will be conducted by Dan Ettinger and Louis Langrée.
Mozart’s Don Giovanni returns for a 16-performance run with multiple casts, most of whom are singing their roles for the first time at the Met. Fabio Luisi and Plácido Domingo conduct the performances, which will star Simon Keenlyside, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Mariusz Kwiecien as the title character. Three singers will perform two different roles in the opera over the course of the season, with Malin Byström taking on both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira; Adam Plachetka and Matthew Rose sing both Leporello and Masetto. The performances will also feature Hibla Gerzmava and Angela Meade as Donna Anna; Amanda Majeski and Marina Rebeka as Donna Elvira; Serena Malfi, Nadine Sierra, and Isabel Leonard as Zerlina; Erwin Schrott as Leporello; and Rolando Villazón, Ramón Vargas, Paul Appleby, and Matthew Polenzani as Don Ottavio.
Isabel Leonard will also star as Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, opposite Vittorio Grigolo in his first Met performances as the title character. Edward Gardner will conduct the first revival of Sir Richard Eyre’s recent new production of the romantic drama.
Holiday Presentations
The Met’s holiday presentation for 2016-17 will be Julie Taymor’s acclaimed staging of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Continuing a tradition begun in 2006, the English-language, abridged performances, designed to make the opera more accessible, will be sold at reduced ticket prices.
The cast of The Magic Flute includes Layla Claire as Pamina, Jessica Pratt (in her Met debut) and Kathryn Lewek as Queen of the Night, Ben Bliss as Tamino, Christopher Maltman as Papageno, Shenyang as the Speaker, and Morris Robinson as Sarastro. Antony Walker will conduct the performances. As in past seasons, the opera will be performed in an English translation by J. D. McClatchy.
Last December, the Met’s first Open House for children attracted hundreds of young audience members for behind-the-scenes displays and demonstrations by members of the Met’s backstage family. This season, the Met will offer two Open Houses before matinee performances of The Magic Flute, on Thursday, December 29 and Friday, December 30.
Ticket Information and Audience Development Initiatives
Ticket prices will not increase in 2016-17, remaining the same as in the current season. Prices will once again range from $25 to $480 for the 3,800 seats in the opera house. Approximately 38 percent of Met tickets will cost less than $100 and 60 percent will cost less than $150.
Subscriptions for the 2016-17 season are available now, and single tickets will go on sale to the general public on June 26, 2016. Subscription tickets will be significantly less expensive than single tickets, with a discount of 15% versus single-sale prices. This year, the company will once again offer advance exchange privileges to subscribers. Other subscriber benefits introduced in recent seasons, including the elimination of exchange fees, will continue in the coming season.
For the first time this season, any audience member who purchases tickets to five or more performances will receive a discount of 10 percent on their order. This applies to single ticket purchasers, to “Create Your Own” subscription purchasers, and to regular subscribers who add on single tickets to their subscription packages.
The Rush Tickets and Met Opera Students programs, which make reduced-price tickets in prime locations available to the general public and students, respectively, will return with no increase in pricing ($25 for rush tickets, $35 for students). More than 30,000 reduced-price tickets are expected to be sold through the Rush Tickets program, which will be administered online as in the current season. The Students program will again offer invitations to artist lectures, discounts at the Met Opera Shop, and the opportunity to meet other opera lovers at special student events, in addition to deeply discounted tickets to a variety of repertory.
The “Fridays Under 40” audience development program will continue for a second season. Participants will enjoy discounted tickets and themed receptions before performances of Don Giovanni (November 4), Aida (December 2), Salome (December 9), Nabucco (December 30), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (January 13), Carmen (February 3), Rusalka (February 17), Roméo et Juliette (March 3), Eugene Onegin (April 7), and La Traviata (April 14). Fridays Under 40 tickets will go on sale June 26.
Live Simulcasts, Open Rehearsals, and Summer Events
In keeping with a tradition begun on Opening Night in 2006, the September 26 season premiere performance of Tristan und Isolde will be transmitted live to numerous large screens in Times Square. The Times Square relay of the Opening Night Gala is presented in cooperation with the City of New York and Times Square Arts. The live transmission to Times Square is made possible with the cooperation of the City of New York, with leadership support provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. This program is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Met’s Open Rehearsal series will again offer select Met dress rehearsals to a combination of school groups and members of the general public.
In Summer 2016, the Met’s two free summer series will return. The Summer Recital Series will again present Met artists in recital in each of the five boroughs, and the Summer HD Festival will show operas from the Live in HD series on a large screen at Lincoln Center Plaza to an audience of approximately 3,000 people per night. Together, the Met’s summer programs are expected to allow approximately 50,000 New Yorkers to experience the Met for free.
The Met: Live in HD 2016-17
The 2016-17 season of The Met: Live in HD will kick off October 8 with the 100th presentation in series history, Tristan und Isolde. The series will continue with Don Giovanni (October 22), L’Amour de Loin (December 10), Nabucco (January 7), Roméo et Juliette (January 21), Rusalka (February 25), La Traviata (March 11), Idomeneo (March 25), Eugene Onegin (April 22), and Der Rosenkavalier (May 13).
The Met’s groundbreaking series launched in 2006 and quickly established the company as the world’s leading alternative cinema content provider. More than 19 million tickets have been sold since the series’ inception, and the series currently reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world.
A separate press release about the 2016-17 Live in HD season is also available.
Tickets for the 10 transmissions in the 2016-17 Live in HD season will go on sale July 20, 2016 in the U.S. and Canada, with Met Members offered priority before tickets are made available to the general public. International ticket sales dates and details on ordering tickets for the 2016-17 Live in HD series vary from country to country and will be announced separately by individual distributors.
The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Global sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline Desmarais, in memory of Paul G. Desmarais Sr.
Within months of their initial live transmissions, the Live in HD programs are shown on PBS. The PBS series, Great Performances at the Met, is produced in association with PBS and WNET, with support from Toll Brothers, America’s luxury home builder®. Additional funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Met: HD Live in Schools
The Met’s HD Live in Schools program will continue for its tenth season, partnering with 40 school districts across the country to bring the Met’s live HD transmissions to students and teachers. The Met’s HD education program includes backstage visits for students, who learn how costumes and scenery are constructed; Q&As with artists; access to final dress rehearsals; in-school workshops; and teacher training workshops. Program and curriculum guides are created for in-school use in conjunction with HD screenings. Lead sponsorship of HD Live in Schools is made possible by Bank of America, with program support provided through a partnership with the New York City Department of Education.
The MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
The MET Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, continues its highly acclaimed annual series at Carnegie Hall in 2016-17. The orchestra will perform an all-Mahler program featuring Susan Graham and Matthew Polenzani on May 31, 2017, including selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Symphony No. 1.
On June 3, soloist Maurizio Pollini will join Levine and the orchestra for an all-Brahms program featuring Piano Quartet No. 1 (orchestrated by Schoenberg) and Piano Concerto No. 1.
The series will conclude June 6 with an all-Sibelius program featuring soloist Christian Tetzlaff: Symphony No. 4, the Violin Concerto, and Valse triste.
For tickets and additional information on the MET Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall, the public may visit www.carnegiehall.org or call (212) 247-7800.
The Met/LCT New Works Program
The Met/LCT New Works Program continues to develop pieces for the opera and music theater stages. Ricky Ian Gordon, whose works 27 and A Coffin in Egypt are being performed in New York this season, is completing composing Intimate Apparel, which Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage has adapted from her play about an African-American seamstress in turn-of-the-century New York. Jeanine Tesori, a Tony winner for her musical Fun Home, is working with George Brant, who will adapt his play Grounded, about a female F16 fighter pilot reassigned to drone duty. Matthew Aucoin is planning on working with playwright Sarah Ruhl on an adaptation of her play Euridyce, her take on the Orpheus myth. David T. Little is developing an original idea with librettist Royce Vavrek, with whom he created the operas Dog Days and JFK, the latter of which premieres at Fort Worth Opera this April. Joshua Schmidt and librettist Dick Scanlan are continuing work on a project focusing on the creation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater” house for 1930’s department store magnate Edgar Kaufmann.
The Met/LCT New Works Program is funded by a generous gift to the Met from the Francis Goelet Charitable Trusts.
The Met on the Radio and the Web
The Met’s 86th consecutive Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcast season kicks off on December 3 with a live broadcast of Manon Lescaut and continues through the May 13 matinee of Der Rosenkavalier. The broadcast season will once again be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Mary Jo Heath returns for her second season as host and Ira Siff returns for his tenth season as commentator for the broadcasts, which feature a range of dynamic intermission features, live backstage interviews with artists, and the ever-popular Opera Quiz. The 2016-17 Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee radio broadcast season will be sponsored by Toll Brothers, America’s luxury homebuilder®, with generous long-term support from The Annenberg Foundation, The Neubauer Family Foundation, and the Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for Broadcast Media, and through contributions from listeners worldwide.
Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 74 will present its 11th season as the country’s premier subscription radio channel dedicated to opera. Up to three live performances will be broadcast each week during the season, hosted by Mary Jo Heath with commentator William Berger, as well as historic broadcasts from the Met’s vast collection. The channel also features lively interviews and previews of upcoming Met performances. The live broadcast season begins with the Met’s Opening Night performance of Tristan und Isolde on September 26. Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM is available to subscribers in the United States and Canada.
The Met will continue to stream one live performance per week during the 2016-17 season on its website at metopera.org.
Media Releases
The Met will continue to release performances from its vast archive of current and historic performances on CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital platforms in the 2016-17 season, with the trademark artistic and production quality that has earned the company three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording.
More than 60 titles are currently available for purchase through the iTunes store, including Live in HD and standard definition video performances, audio performances, and ringtones.
Met Opera on Demand
The Met’s exclusive streaming service now features more than 575 full-length Met performances, available worldwide through a growing number of platforms that now includes computers; Roku devices; Samsung Smart TVs; Apple TV via Airplay; iPad; and Android devices. The Met Opera on Demand library includes more than 90 presentations from the Live in HD series, as well as hundreds of other telecasts and radio broadcasts dating back to 1935.
Met Opera on Demand: Student Access allows university and college libraries to make this digital resource from the Met accessible to their student populations. This service will continue to expand in the coming season. Student Access, which offers exclusive educational resources to students and faculty along with access to the library of Met Opera on Demand performances, is already used by more than 100 schools around the world.
The Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met
During the 2016-17 season, the contemporary art space located in the Met’s south lobby will present two new exhibitions, one in Fall/Winter 2016 and one in Winter/Spring 2017, in conjunction with productions from the opera season. Admission is free and Gallery Met is open to the public six days a week; the hours are Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. through the last intermission, and Saturdays from noon through the last intermission of the evening performance.
The Gallery Met Shorts series, in which celebrated visual artists use animation, video, and film to create original artworks set to music from operas in the Met season, will also continue in 2016-17.
Further details on the Met’s visual arts initiatives for 2016-17, including participating artists and subjects, will be announced at a later date. For more information, please visit metopera.org/visit/exhibitions.
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