Peter Gelb News

La Traviata premiered at Venice's Teatro la Fenice in 1853, and survived a notoriously unsuccessful opening night to become one of the best-loved operas in the repertoire.

Anna Netrebko reprises one of her most acclaimed roles as Tatiana, the naive heroine of Tchaikovsky's opera, adapted from Pushkin's classic verse novel.

Tenor Matthew Polenzani sings the title role of the King of Crete, with mezzo-soprano Alice Coote in the trouser role of his noble son Idamante, soprano Elza van den Heever as Elettra, and soprano Nadine Sierra as Ilia.             

Kristine Opolais stars in her first Met performances of her breakthrough role, the title character in Antonin Dvoák's Rusalka, in a critically acclaimed new staging, directed by Mary Zimmerman and conducted by Mark Elder, on GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET Sunday, June 18 at 12 p.m. on PBS

In an interview with The New York Times, Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb revealed that the 2019-20 season would feature a new production of Porgy and Bess, directed by Bartlett Sher and starring Grammy-award winner Eric Owens.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) announces the appointment of David Rubeo as new Executive Director, effective May 1, 2017.

American Lyric Theater (ALT) announces the appointment of David Rubeo as new Executive Director, effective May 1, 2017.

Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, the warrior woman determined to rule empires, and Jamie Bartonis the heroic Fenena. Russell Thomas is Ismaele, nephew to the King of Jerusalem and Dmitry Belosselskiy is the stentorian voice of the oppressed Hebrew people.

The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met as the title king in Nabucco, under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine on GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET Sunday, May 7 at 12 p.m.on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)

Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin (“Love From Afar”), one of the most highly praised operas of recent years, airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, April 2 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)

The Met's new production by director Bartlett Sher also features Virginie Verrez as Stéphano, Elliot Madore as Mercutio, and Mikhail Petrenko as Frère Laurent. Gianandrea Noseda conducts the sumptuous score.

Hailed by The New York Times for singing 'with white-hot sensuality and impassioned lyricism,' Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo star as the tragic lovers in Shakespeare's classic story. Gounod's Romo et Juliette airs on Great Performances at the Met Friday, April 14 at 9 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings.)

Lincoln Center offers the following statement on the proposed elimination of funding for the NEA, NEH, and IMLS.

Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de Loin ('Love From Afar'), one of the most highly praised operas of recent years, airs on Great Performances at the Met Sunday, April 2 at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). (In New York, THIRTEEN will air the opera at 12:30 p.m.)

Susanna Phillips stars as Clémence, the Countess of Tripoli, opposite Eric Owens as Jaufré Rudel, a troubadour on a quest to find his perfect love, and Tamara Mumford as the Pilgrim who carries messages back and forth between them.  

As Opera News notes in a "Spotlight" double-page spread in the just-published February issue, Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello is now "at the top of his game." This spring, marking his house title role debut, he headlines Gounod's Romeo et Juliette (March 3-18) at New York's Metropolitan Opera, starring opposite Pretty Yende in Bartlett Sher's hit staging. By way of a preview, Costello and Yende will each sing romantic arias from the opera in a special Valentine's Day edition of WQXR'S Classical Beer Jam at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in downtown Manhattan, marking their first public appearance together (Feb 14). Opera lovers around the world can catch a live webcast of the performance on Facebook and WQXR.org. Meanwhile, the tenor may already be seen at the Met, channeling Frank Sinatra as the Duke of Mantua in Michael Mayer's Vegas setting of Verdi's Rigoletto (Jan 20-Feb 4), to which, last year, the New York Times found his "bright tenor … perfectly suited."

With the nation's budget deadline looming, the National Endowment for the Arts is still at risk. Lincoln Center has just released the following statement in support of the NEA.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 season will feature 220 performances of 26 works, including two Met premieres, one co-commissioned by the company and one an older masterpiece having its first Met performances; a variety of repertory favorites, three in new productions; and performances of Verdi's towering concert work for soloists, orchestra, and chorus, the Requiem. Of note, Broadway star Kelli O'Hara is set to return to the Met in Così fan tutte this season.

“RUSALKA is an operatic fairytale with a strong message about the consequences of over-reaching--an appropriate, cautionary tale for our times,” said Peter Gelb, the Metropolitan Opera's General Manager, introducing a panel at the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process series that included director Mary Zimmerman and conductor Mark Elder. The new production opens at the Met on February 2--“and that's not an 'alternative fact,'” said Gelb--starring soprano Kristine Opolais as Rusalka, tenor Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince, mezzo Jamie Barton as Jezibaba (the witch), and bass-baritone Eric Owens as the Water Gnome (Rusalka's father).