Rossini's GUILLAUME TELL to Open at the Met for First Time in 80 Years, 10/18

A new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, the composer's final opera, will open at the Met on October 18 in the first company performances of the ambitious historical epic in more than 80 years-and its first-ever Met performances in its original French. The new staging is directed by Pierre Audi, the incoming Artistic Director of the Park Avenue Armory and conducted by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi. Rossini's opera tells the story of a Swiss revolutionary on a quest for freedom. Its famous "William Tell Overture" is one of the best-known and most performed pieces in the standard classical repertory, though the opera, which makes considerable demands on its stars, orchestra, and chorus, has rarely been presented in modern times. Gerald Finley will star in the title role, which he has made a specialty of in recent seasons, with Marina Rebeka as the Princess Mathilde; Bryan Hymel as her suitor Arnold; Maria Zifchak as Tell's wife Hedwige; Janai Brugger as their son Jemmy; Italian bass Marco Spotti in his Met debut as Walter Furst; Kwangchul Youn as Arnold's father Melcthal; and John Relyea as Gesler.

Audi's staging will feature scenic design George Tsypin, costume design by Andrea Schmidt-Futterer, lighting design by Jean Kalman, choreography by Kim Brandstrup, and dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch.

Cast and Conductor Bios

Fabio Luisi has conducted over 200 performances of 28 operas at the Met since his company debut leading Verdi's Don Carlo in 2005. As Met Principal Conductor, some of his most notable performances have included Verdi's Macbeth; Wagner's Ringcycle; Strauss's rarely heard Die Ägyptische Helena; Berlioz's Les Troyens; and last season's new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut. In addition to conducting Guillaume Tell this season, Maestro Luisi conducts performances of Mozart's Don Giovannithrough November. Later this season, he will lead Don Carlo, Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, and Wagner's Lohengrin at the Zurich Opera.

Gerald Finley sings his first Met performances of the title role in Guillaume Tell, which he has sung to great acclaim at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and recorded with the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He has sung seven roles at the Met, including the title role of Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Golaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Met premiere of John Adams's Doctor Atomic, and Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. After his performances at the Met, Finley can be seen as Amfortas in Wagner's Parsifal at the Vienna State Opera and Michonnet in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He will also reprise the title role of Guillaume Tell at the Bavarian State Opera later this season.

Marina Rebeka has previously sung Mathilde at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Dutch National Opera, and Bavarian State Opera. She made her Met debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni followed by Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata and Musetta in La Bohème. Later this season, she will reprise Violetta in La Traviata at the Vienna State Opera and sing in the title role of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Rome Opera, followed by returning to the Met to sing Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in the spring.

Janai Brugger makes her role debut as Jemmy. After winning the 2012 Operalia Competition and the Met Opera National Council Auditions, she made her company debut later that same year as Liù in Puccini's Turandot followed by starring as Helena in the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island. Following performances as Jemmy, she will sing Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen with the company.

Maria Zifchak stars in the first four performances as Hedwige. She has sung more than 300 Met performances over the course of her 18-year career with the company. Her numerous other roles at the Met this season will include the Old Shepherdess in Janá?ek's Jen?fa, the Slave in Strauss's Salome, Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Giovanna in Verdi's Rigoletto, and Annina in La Traviata. Her other recent appearances with the company have included Ines in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Hannah in Maria Stuarda, and Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, a role she has sung 83 times at the Met.

Bryan Hymel has previously sung the role of Arnold at the Bavarian State Opera. He made his company debut in 2012 as Aeneas in Berlioz's Les Troyens, and that same year, he received the prestigious Beverly Sills Artist Award. Other roles with the company have included Pinkterton in Madama Butterfly and Rodolfo in La Bohème. After his performances at the Met, he will reprise the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at La Scala and sing in the title role of Don Carlo at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Marco Spotti has sung Walter Furst at the Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie in concert, and Teatro Regio Torino in concert. His recent credits with other opera houses include Timur in Turandot at the Rome Opera, Wurm in Verdi's Luisa Miller and Colline in La Bohème at La Scala, and the Commendatore in Don Giovanni at Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Following performances as Walter Furst, he will sing Enrico VIII in Donizetti's Anna Bolena at the Teatro Regio di Parma, Sparafucile in Rigoletto at the Dresden State Opera, Oroveso in Bellini's Norma at the Grand Théatre de Genève, and Ferrando in Il Trovatore at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Kwangchul Youn makes his role debut as Melcthal. He made his Met debut as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte in 2004, and since then, he has sung over 75 performances in ten different operas with the company, including roles such as Mercury and Narbal inLes Troyens, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and King Marke in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. Youn will also sing the Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Met this season, followed by performances as Daland in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer at Teatro Real in Madrid, King Marke in Tristan und Isolde at the Vienna State Opera, and Sparafucile in Rigoletto at the Paris Opera.

John Relyea adds a new role to his Met repertory as Gesler. He made his company debut in 2000 as Alidoro in La Cenerentola followed by performances as Masetto in Don Giovanni, Colline in La Bohème, the Nightwatchman in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the Water Sprite in Dvo?ák's Rusalka, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Escamillo in Carmen. Later this season, he will star as King Marke in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Rome Opera and Bishop Taché in Somers's Louis Rieland Jacopo Fiesco in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro di San Carlo.

Director and Creative Team Bios

Pierre Audi returns to the Met after making his company debut in 2010 directing the company premiere of Verdi's Attila. Audi has served as the artistic director of the Dutch National Opera since 1988, and from 2004-2014, he was the Artistic Director of the Holland Festival in Amsterdam. Audi is the incoming Artistic Director of the Park Avenue Armory in New York City and has begun planning for the 2017 season. As an opera director, Audi has led productions at the Dutch National Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Vienna's Theater an der Wien, and the Salzburg Festival. In 2018, Audi will leave the Dutch National Opera and become the general director of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

George Tsypin began designing sets at the Met in 2000 for Prokofiev's The Gambler, and since then has worked on four other productions including Prokofiev's War and Peace, Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, Die Zauberflöte, and Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa.His designs have been seen around the world with other opera companies which include the Paris Opera, La Scala, Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. As a sculptor, architect, and designer, he has also designed sets for Broadway, the MTV Video Music Awards, and designed the 2014 Sochi Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.

Andrea Schmidt-Futterer was last seen at the Met in 2000 when she designed costumes for Busoni's Doktor Faust. Since then, she has designed costumes at the Zurich Opera, San Francisco Opera, Berlin State Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and the Salzburg Festival and Glyndebourne Festival. Later this season, she will design costumes for Trojahn's Orest at the Zurich Opera.

Jean Kalman made his Met debut in 1997 as the lighting designer for Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, and since then, he has created the lighting for Don Giovanni, Macbeth, John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, and Attila with the company. The native Parisian has frequently collaborated with many of the world's leading directors such as Peter Brook, Deborah Warner, Richard Eyre, and Nicholas Hytner at opera house around the world including the English National Opera, Paris Opera, La Scala, Vienna State Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Kim Brandstrup has previously choreographed Britten's Death in Venice and Eugene Onegin at the Met. His choreography has been seen at the English National Opera, Greek National Opera, Bregenz Festival, Glyndebourne Festival, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He has choreographed for films including The Iron Lady, as well as dance at the New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet Company, and the Royal Danish Ballet.

Klaus Bertisch makes his Met debut as the dramaturg for Guillaume Tell. From 1979-1987, he was a dramaturg for the Frankfurt Opera and then worked with the Berlin State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Opera Dresden, and Gran Teatre del Liceu. He has collaborated previously with Pierre Audi at the Salzburg Festival, La Monnaie in Brussels, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Dutch National Opera, where he has been a dramaturg with the company since 1990.

Guillaume Tell Fun Facts

Guillaume Tell is the final opera Rossini composed when he was 37 years old. According to letters written by the composer, these documents led historians to believe that Guillaume Tell was meant to be Rossini's farewell opera, even though he lived for almost another 40 more years. The opera is most well-known for its famous overture, also known as the William Tell Overture. Its many appearances in pop culture include the "Lone Ranger" television program, the film A Clockwork Orange, and numerous cartoons, including the Mickey Mouse short "The Band Concert."

Guillaume Tell was first staged at the Met in 1884, in the company's second-ever season. The opera was given a total of 31 times through its most recent performances in 1931. It was performed in German for its first 11 performances, and in Italian for the subsequent 20. This season's performances will be the first-ever Met performances of the opera in the original French.

Guillaume Tell Live Radio Broadcasts

The November 2 performance of Guillaume Tell will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performance on November 9. The October 18 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's web site,www.metopera.org.

A performance previously recorded from Fall 2016 will be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network on March 18.

For More Information

For more information on Guillaume Tell, including casting by date, please click here.