Anna Netrebko, Sonya Yoncheva, Joyce DiDonato & Piotr Beczala Headline Metropolitan Opera’s 2020-21 Season

By Francisco Salazar

The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled its 2020-21 season, which features five new productions and 17 revivals.

New Productions

Anna Netrebko opens the Metropolitan Opera in a new production of Verdi’s “Aida” directed by Michael Mayer. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the production which also stars Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała, Dmitry Belosselskiy and Ludovic Tezier.

The production will also showcase Latonia Moore and Hibla Gerzmava in the title role as well as Ekaterina Semenchuk, Marcelo Alvarez,  George Gagnidze and Kwangchul Youn. John Keenan and Pier Giorgio Morandi conduct the second cast.

Performance Dates: Sept. 21-Dec. 12, 2020

Prokofiev’s “The Fiery Angel” gets its Met premiere in a production by Barrie Kosky with Michail Jurowski conducting a cast that includes  Svetlana Sozdateleva, Jill Grove, Elena Manistina, Dmitry Golovnin, Evgeny Nikitin, and Ante Jerkunica.

Performance Dates: Nov. 12-Dec. 5, 2020

The Met celebrates the New Year with a new production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” by Simon McBurney. Gustavo Dudamel conducts the first cast which is set to star Christiane Karg, Kathryn Lewek, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Thomas Oliemans, Christina Van Horn, and Stephen Milling.

Later in the season Cornelius Meister will conduct a cast that includes Lucy Crowe, So Young Park, Kang Wang, Tareq Nazmi, and John Relyea.

Performance Dates: Dec. 31, 2020-June 3, 2021

Mozart’s Don Giovanni gets a new production by Ivo Van Hove starring Peter Mattei, Gerald Finley, Ailyn Perez, Isabel Leonard, Hera Hyesang Park, and Ben Bliss. Yannick Nézet-Séguin  conducts the production which is also set to star Ryan Speedo Green and Alfred Walker.

The opera will also showcase a second cast that includes conductors Gareth Morrell and Antonello Manacorda leading Amanda Woodbury, Federica Lombardi, Amanda Majeski, Liparit Avetisyan, Gerald Finley, Alex Esposito, and Raymond Aceto.

Performance Dates: March 1-May 2, 2021

Joyce DiDonato and Susan Graham lead the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking.” Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads Ivo Van Hove’s new production with Étienne Dupuis also starring as Joseph De Rocher. Latonia Moore rounds out the cast with conductor Kensho Watanabe leading some performances.

Performance Dates: April 8-May 2, 2021

Revivals

Andrey Zhilikhovsky, Lawrence Brownlee, and Pretty Yende lead Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” Giacomo Sagripanti conducts the cast which will include Maurizio Muraro and Ildar Abdrazakov. Joshua Hopkins and Valeriano Lanchas also star.

Performance Dates: Dec. 11, 2020-Jan. 14, 2021

Matthew Polenzani, Joshua Hopkins, Micheal Todd Simpson, Matthew Rose, Brandon Cedel, David Soar, and James Morris star in Britten’s “Billy Budd.” Simone Young conducts.

Performance Dates: May 21-June 5, 2021

Nicole Car, Angela Gheorghiu, Angel Blue, and Eleonora Buratto share the title role in Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Gabriella Reyes and Heidi Stober alternate as Musetta while Piero Pretti, Dmytro Popov and Matthew Polenzani star as Rodolfo.

The cast is also set to star Étienne Dupuis, Quinn Kelsey, Lucas Meachem, Russell Braun, Iurii Samoilov, Davide Luciano, Andrey Zhilikhovsky, Andrzej Filonczyk, Jongmin Park, Christian Van Horn, and Alexander Vinogradov.

Domingo Hindoyan, Nimrod David Pfeffer and Marco Armiliato conduct.

Performance Dates: Nov. 20, 2020-April 17, 2021

J’Nai Bridges, Ramona Zaharia, Clémentine Margaine, and Varduhi Abrahamyan share the title role in Bizet’s “Carmen.” Nicole Car, Olga Peretyatko, and Susanna Phillips also star as Michaëla with Yonghoon Lee, Marcelo Alvarez, and Russell Thomas as Don José. Kyle Ketelsen, Christian Van Horn, and Alexander Vinogradov star as Escamillo, while Lorenzo Viotti and Marco Armiliato conduct.

Performance Dates: Oct. 2, 2020-March 12, 2021

Matthew Polenzani stars in the title role of Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” alongside Erin Morley,  Olga Kulchynska, Veronica Simeoni, Tara Erraught, Olesya Petrova, Tony Stevenson, and Luca Pisaroni. Daniele Rustioni conducts.

Performance Dates: Sept. 22-Oct. 16, 2020

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Beethoven’s “Fidelio” starring Lise Davidsen, Golda Schultz, Brandon Jovanovich, Alek Shrader, Tomasz Konieczny, Franz-Josef Selig, and Christian Van Horn.

Patrick Furrer also conducts one performance with Sydney Mancasola and Carl Tanner.

Performance Dates: Nov. 30-Dec. 23, 2020

Elza van den Heever stars in Strauss’s “Die Frau ohne Schatten” alongside Evelyn Herlitzius, Nina Stemme, Klaus Florian Vogt, Micheal Volle, and Ryan Speedo Green. Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Patrick Furrer conduct.

Performance Dates: April 16-May 5, 2021

Harry Bicket conducts Handel’s “Giulio Cesare” with Kristina Mkhitaryan, Kate Lindsey, Karen Cargill, Iestyn Davies, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Duncan Rock.

Performance Dates: March 2-21, 2021

Hunperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel” returns for the holiday season with Edward Gardner conducting. Hera Hyesang Park and Mané Galoyan share the role of Gretel while Elizabeth DeShong and Sasha Cooke playing Hansel. Michaela Martens, John Daszak, and Thomas Hampson round out the cast.

Performance Dates: Dec. 15, 2020 – Jan. 8, 2021

Brenda Rae takes on the title role of Berg’s “Lulu” with Susan Graham, Robert Watson, and Johan Reuter. Sebastian Weigle conducts the production which will also star Matthias Klink, Gerhard Siegel, David Soar, and James Morris.

Performance Dates: March 5-20, 2021

Anna Netrebko makes her role debut as Abigaille in Verdi’s “Nabucco,” alongside George Gagnidze, Varduhi Abrahamyan, Najmiddin Mavlynov, and Dmitry Belosselskiy.

Marco Armiliato conducts the cast that also includes Oksana Dyka, Rafael Davila, and Morris Robinson.

Performance Dates: March 26-May 15, 2021

Javier Camarena and Diana Damrau star in Bellini’s “Il Pirata” with Maurizio Benini conducting and Nicolas Testé rounding out the cast. Angela Meade gets one performance.

Performance Dates: May 7-June 4, 2021

Nadine Sierra and Stephen Costello lead Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette” with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting Bartlett Sher’s production.

The production is also set to star Ismael Jordi and Benjamin Bernheim alternating Roméo. Julie Boulianne, Samantha Hankey, Joshua Hopkins, Elliot Madore, Ildar Abdrazakov, Christian Van Horne, David Portillo, Laurent Naouri, and Brett Polegato also star. Emmanuel Villaume also conducts later performances.

Performance Dates: Jan. 12-April 22, 2021

Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux” with Angela Meade and Jamie Barton reuniting for the first time since 2017. Stephen Costello and David Portillo share the title role with Davide Luciano rounding out the cast. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Performance Dates: Sept. 23-Oct. 10. 2020

Dvořák’s “Rusalka” returns with Jakub Hrusa conducting Sonya Yoncheva in the title role, Ekaterina Gubanova, Okka von der Damerau, Piotr Beczala, and Eric Owens.

Performance Dates: March 16-April 6, 2021

Ailyn Perez, Anita Hartig, and Lisette Oropesa alternate in Verdi’s “La Traviata” alongside tenors Atalla Ayan and Migran Agadzhanyan. Christopher Maltman, Igor Golovatenko, and Amartuvshin Enkhbat star as Germont with Carlo Rizzi, Speranza Scappucci, and Daniele Callegari leading in the pit.

Performance Dates: Oct. 24-May 8, 2021

Sonya Yoncheva and Krassimira Stoyanova share the role of Leonora in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.” Michele Mariotti conducts performances with Ekaterina Semenchuk and Anita Rachvelishvili sharing the role of Azucena; Roberto Aronica and Russell Thomas in the title role; Quinn Kelsey and  Ludovic Tézier as the Count di Luna; and Kwangchul Youn and Ryan Speedo Green as Ferrando.

Performance Dates: Oct. 30-May 29, 2021

Christine Goerke stars in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” alongside Stuart Skelton as Tristan. Günther Groissbock, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Greer Grimsley round out the cast with Hartmut Haenchen conducting.

Performance Dates: Oct. 17-Nov. 6, 2020

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