(Credit: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera)

The Metropolitan Opera will open a new production of “Wozzeck” on Dec. 27, 2019 with Peter Mattei in the leading role.

What is fascinating about “Wozzeck’s” history at the Met is that despite only 69 performances to date, there have been a whopping 14 different artists performing the title role (an average of about five performances per person).

The first to sing the role was Hermann Uhde between 1959-61; his 10 performances remain the most by any Wozzeck interpreter to date. William Dooley took on four performances in 1965 while Geraint Evans performed the role four times in 1969. Peter Glossop also appeared in the opera five times in 1974.

In 1980, José Van Dam interpreted the role six times with Allan Monk singing it twice. Five years later, Christian Boesch appeared six times in the opera, sharing a run with Victor Braun, who performed it twice. At the end of the decade, Gottfried Hornik appeared in the role five times.

In 1997, Falk Struckmann made his Met Opera debut in the opera’s leading character, managing five performances during that initial run. He would return in 2001 for another four, bringing his total to nine. Franz Grundhelber also performed the opera three times during a brief run in 1999.

Alan Held revived the opera in 2005 and 2011 for a total of eight shows. In 2014, Thomas Hampson appeared in the role three times and shared his run with Daniel Sutin and Matthias Goerne, each getting one performance.

Peter Mattei will sing in seven total performances between Dec. 27 through Jan. 22, 2020.