Met Opera 2018-19 Preview: ‘Il Trittico’ Celebrates Its 100 Years Since World Premiere

Major Milestones for Marcelo Alvarez, Kristine Opolais & Plácido Domingo

By David Salazar

Puccini’s “Il Trittico” returns to the Met Opera on Nov. 23, 2018, for seven performances.

Despite being one of Puccini’s finest works, it has only been presented with the company on 74 occasions; by the end of this run, it will have 81 performances total.

As is always the case with these operas, there are a ton of singers involved across the three works. So here is a breakdown of the major players.

Il Tabarro

Soprano Amber Wagner returns to the Met for what will be her 18th performance with the company. She made her debut back in 2011 in “Nabucco” and has since appeared in three roles total, including Senta in “Die Fliegende Holländer” and Amelia in “Un Ballo in Maschera.” In that latter opera, she appeared with tenor Marcelo Alvarez.

The tenor will be returning to the company after an extended hiatus. He managed one performance of “Turandot” last season and one of “Carmen” in 2017, but had not performed regularly at the Met since December 2016 in “Manon Lescaut.” He has appeared in 137 Met performances since his debut on Nov. 23, 1998. This performance will thus mark his 20th anniversary since his debut at the Met.

They will be joined by Stephanie Blythe and George Gagnidze. Lucio Gallo will get one performance.

Suor Angelica

Kristine Opolais returns to the Met for what will be her 50th performance at the house on Nov. 23, 2018. This will be her sixth role with the company after “La Rondine,” “Madama Butterfly,” “La Bohème,” “Rusalka,” and “Manon Lescaut;” this is her fifth Puccini role.

Elena Stikhina will replace her for one performance during the run; the remaining cast members include Stephanie Blythe and Maureen McKay.

Gianni Schicchi

Plácido Domingo is all the rage here in what will be his 50th year at the Met. He has over 860 performances at the company as tenor, baritone, and conductor, so for the sake of brevity we will only look at his baritone roles. This is his sixth baritone role with the company after “Simon Boccanegra,” “La Traviata,” “Nabucco,” “Luisa Miller,” and “Ernani;” this is the first non-Verdi baritone role he takes on with the company.

He will be joined by debutante Kristina Mkhitaryan, Stephanie Blythe, and Atalla Ayan in his third Met Opera role (he has 12 performances to date in “La Traviata” and “Cyrano de Bergerac”).

Bertrand de Billy will conduct the entire run.

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