Schrott Brings His Acclaimed 'Don Giovanni' to the MET

When Erwin Schrott took on the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni last year at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, The New York Times wrote: "The surprise was the riveting Giovanni: the seductively handsome young Uruguayan bass Erwin Schrott, who boasts a strong, dusky voice and chiseled physique. Exuding charisma, he galvanized the audience with his unabashedly narcissistic portrayal."

Now Schrott, who sang the role when the Met toured Japan in 2006, is bringing his portrayal to the Met stage for the first time beginning Saturday, September 27. He is joined for the first run of performances by Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova as Donna Anna; American mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham as Donna Elvira (her first Met performances of this role) and Isabel Leonard as Zerlina; American tenor Matthew Polenzani, the Met's 2008 Beverly Sills Artist Award winner, as Don Ottavio; Italian bass Ildebrando D'Arcangelo in the role of Leporello; Australian bass-baritone Joshua Bloom, who is making his Met debut as Masetto, and Canadian bass Phillip Ens as the Commendatore. Louis Langrée, who made a notable Met debut last season leading the new production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, will conduct.

Erwin Schrott made his Met debut in 2000 as Colline in La Bohème and has since returned as Escamillo in Carmen, and in the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, which he sang last season. A winner of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in 1998, Schrott has sung leading roles at La Scala, Milan, the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. For his Salzburg Festival debut, he recently sang the role of Leporello in Don Giovanni.

In later performances of Don Giovanni, Peter Mattei, who sang Figaro to great acclaim in the Met’s hit 2006 production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, will sing the title role. Also singing later performances are: Tamar Iveri and Barbara Frittoli as Donna Anna; Petra-Maria Schnitzer and Soile Isokoski as Donna Elvira; Isabel Bayrakdarian as Zerlina; Pavol Breslik as Don Ottavio; Ildar Abdrazakov and Samuel Ramey as Leporello; Shenyang as Masetto; Kwangchul Youn and Raymond Aceto as the Commendatore; and Lothar Koenigs as conductor.

 This 2004 production by director Marthe Keller has a host of debuts. Artists who will appear for the first time at the Met are Slovakian tenor Pavol Breslik as Don Ottavio, Joshua Bloom and Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang—winner of the 2007 Cardiff Singer of the World competition, and a member of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program —as Masetto, and German conductor Lothar Koenigs, who becomes Music Director of the Welsh National Opera in 2009. In addition to Susan Graham as Donna Elvira, those who are singing their roles for the first time with the company are: Krassimira Stoyanova as Donna Anna, Isabel Leonard as Zerlina, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Leporello and Phillip Ens, Kwangchul Youn and Raymond Aceto as The Commendatore. Maestro Langrée is also conducting his first Met Don Giovanni.

          
Live Broadcasts to be heard around the world

Don Giovanni will be heard by millions of people around the world this season on the radio.The opening performance on September 27 as well as performances on October 1, 10, 14, April 16, and 20 will be heard on the Metropolitan Opera on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Channel 78).

About the Met

Under the leadership of General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine, the Met has a series of bold initiatives underway that are designed to broaden its audience and revitalize the company’s repertory.  The Met has made a commitment to presenting modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, with highly theatrical productions featuring the greatest opera stars in the world.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2008-09 season pays tribute to the company’s extraordinary history on the occasion of its 125th anniversary, while also emphasizing the Met’s renewed commitment to advancing the art form. The upcoming season features six new productions, 18 revivals, the final performances of Otto Schenk’s production of Wagner’s Ring cycle conducted by Levine, and two gala celebrations; the galas include the season-opening performance featuring Renée Fleming as well as a 125th anniversary celebration on March 15.  New productions include the company premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic as well as the Met’s first staged production of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, and Massenet’s Thaïs, Puccini’s La Rondine, Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and Bellini’s La Sonnambula.  Future seasons include new presentations of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles (2009-10) and Thomas Adès’s The Tempest (2011-12).

Building on its 77-year-old international radio broadcast history – heard over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network – the Met now uses advanced media distribution platforms and state-of-the-art technology to attract new audiences and reach millions of opera fans around the world.

The Met: Live in HD series reached more than 935,000 people in the 2007-08 season, more than the number of people who saw performances in the opera house.  These performances began airing on PBS in March 2008, and eight of these HD performances are currently or will soon be available on DVD, on the EMI and Universal labels.  In the 2008-09 season, the series expands to feature 11 live transmissions, starting with the Met’s Opening Night Gala and spanning the entire season. The HD productions will be seen in over 850 theaters in 28 countries around the world. Five new productions will be featured, including the Met premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic. The Opening Night transmission will be seen in the Americas only; the remaining ten high-definition productions will be shown live worldwide on Saturdays through May 9 with encores scheduled at various times.

Live in HD in Schools, the Met’s new program offering free opera transmissions to New York City schools in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the Metropolitan Opera Guild, reached more than 7,000 public school students and teachers during the 2007-08 season. This season, Live in HD in Schools expands to reach schools in 18 cities and communities nationwide.

Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 is a subscription-based audio service broadcasting both live and rare recorded historical performances.  In addition to providing audio recordings through the new Met on Rhapsody on-demand service, the Met also presents free live audio streaming of performances on its website once every week during the opera season with support from RealNetworks®.

The company’s groundbreaking commissioning program in partnership with New York’s Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), provides renowned composers and playwrights with the resources to create and develop new works at the Met and at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater.  The Met’s partnership with LCT is part of the company’s larger initiative to commission new operas from contemporary composers, present modern masterpieces alongside the classic repertory, and provide a venue for artists to nurture their work.

The Met has launched several audience development initiatives such as the company’s Open House Dress Rehearsals, which are free and open to the public; two are planned for the 2008-09 season with operas and dates to be announced.  The Met also presents a free performance of the Verdi Requiem on September 18, in tribute to the late Luciano Pavarotti.  Other company initiatives include the Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met which exhibits contemporary visual art; the immensely successful Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Rush Ticket program which provides deeply discounted orchestra seats two hours before curtain time; and an annual Holiday Series presentation for families.  This season’s special Holiday Presentation is Julie Taymor’s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, an abridged, English-language version of the opera which is given four special matinee performances and one holiday evening performance as a way for families to celebrate the holiday season.