Metropolitan Opera 2018-19 Preview: Get To Know The Cast for ‘The Magic Flute’

By David Salazar

It’s the holiday season and that means that the Metropolitan Opera is putting on Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” in its English iteration.

This season’s revival will feature a number of veterans in this production, as well as some new faces.

Erin Morley will headline as Pamina. She debuted at the Met in 2008 and has amassed 87 performances to date across 11 operas. This is her first time taking on the Mozart opera with the company; she has yet to perform a Mozart opera at the Met though she has ample experience in works by Wagner and Strauss.

Sydney Mancasola, who made her debut this season as Frasquita in “Carmen” gets a single performance in this run on Jan. 3, 2019.

Kathryn Lewek returns to her iconic portrayal of the Queen of the Night. She made her debut in 2013 at the Met and all 20 of her performances to date have been in this very role. So Young Park will replace Lewek for one performance, her Met debut, on Jan. 3, 2019.

Ben Bliss is set to take on Tamino in every show of this run. He made his debut in 2016 and has performed in such operas as “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,” “Lucia di Lammermoor, and “Così fan Tutte,” among others. He already has six “Magic Flute” performances under his belt from the 2016-17 run.

Nathan Gunn will also return to his iconic portrayal of Papageno. Since his 1994 debut, he has appeared in 148 performances in 13 operas. Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” is the opera he has performed most often with the company, clocking in 38 shows to date in both German and English. Duncan Rock will replace him for the Jan. 3 performance.

Finally, Morris Robinson rounds out the cast as Sarastro. He has appeared at the Met over 100 times in his career with 36 of those performances in this very opera. Peixin Chen gets the Jan. 3 performance.

Alfred Walker will appear as the Speaker and Brenton Ryan and Mark Schowalter will alternate Monostatos, the latter getting the Jan. 3 and 5 performances.

Harry Bicket conducts.

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