After months of lobbying, the Metropolitan Opera has received $5 million in one-time operating support from the State of New York. According to a press release by AGMA members who work at the Metropolitan Opera, with the support of AGMA staff, they helped deliver the win, not just for the Met but for the future of opera in New York. {…}
(Credit: Inés Bacher) A mysterious traveler climbed onto the stage, draped in a long garment. A burnished gold and bronze curtain rose slowly on her approach as she sought to enter it. Slowly, a second curtain began to rise. All was suspended, still. It seemed as if time began to peel away. We were elsewhere as well as right there. {…}
(Credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera) On May 1, the Metropolitan Opera presented the second performance of its spring “Aida” run. This run is special as it marks the return of Elīna Garanča to the Met for the first time in five years. It is incidentally, also her first Verdi role in the United States. Garanča made her role debut {…}
The Metropolitan Opera’s 2025 Summer Recital Series has announced its 16th season, which begins June 9. The six free outdoor recitals will take place in all five boroughs of New York City, presented in collaboration with Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage. The concerts at SummerStage in Central Park, which will be held on June 16 and in Brooklyn Bridge {…}
Works & Process is set to present The Metropolitan Opera: John Adams’s “Antony and Cleopatra.” The presentation is set for April 28, 2025, at the Guggenheim New York in the Peter B. Lewis Theater. Ahead of this historic premiere, Met General Manager Peter Gelb will moderate a discussion with director Elkhanah Pulitzer, set designer Mimi Lien, and choreographer Annie-B Parson. {…}
(Credit: Inés Bacher) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present a new production of Mussorgsky’s “Khovanschina” in a future season. The New York Times is reporting that the production by Simon McBurney premiering at the Salzburg Easter Festival “will travel to New York in the future.” The new production will showcase a new ending by composer, musicologist, and author Gerard {…}
(Credit: Evan Zimmerman / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD season will continue with Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” on April 26, 2025. The production by Richard Eyre will be conducted by Joana Mallwitz and will star Michael Sumuel and soprano Olga Kulchynska as Figaro and Susanna. They will be joined by Joshua Hopkins as Count Almaviva, Federica Lombardi as the {…}
(Credit: Metropolitan Opera / Ken Howard) The Metropolitan Opera is set to present Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” with a stellar cast. The performances, which open on May 23, will star Sonya Yoncheva in her return to the Metropolitan Opera after a two-year absence. She will perform Lisa for the very first time and will be joined by tenor Brian {…}
(Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera) Simon McBurney’s German-language production of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” lifts the veil between performers and audience members, making it easy to find a full-length opera (approximately three hours and 15 minutes) that is fun and interesting. OperaWire initially reviewed this production in detail for the Met’s 2022-23 season and is excited to see it included {…}
Pene Pati is having a breakout season, making important debuts at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera. The tenor has been hailed for his “extraordinary gift for producing a golden thread of sound” and his “round and sunshine-filled voice.” He has won numerous awards around the world including the Opus Klassik Newcomer of the Year Award, Best {…}
Anita Rachvelishvili has sued the Metropolitan Opera in a Manhattan Federal Court. In court documents obtained by the New York Post, the mezzo is suing the Met for firing her because she couldn’t hit her high notes. The mezzo claims that the company canceled her contracts in January 2023 due to “deterioration of vocal quality.” She was set to perform {…}
