William Christie Makes His Met Debut Conducting Così fan tutte 11/9

Renowned baroque specialist William Christie will make his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting a revival of Mozart's Così fan tutte, which will begin performances November 9. The "sensitively conceived and beautiful to watch" (The New York Times) production will star Miah Persson and Isabel Leonard as sisters and unwitting fiancé-swappers Fiordiligi and Dorabella; Danielle De Niese as their shrewd maid Despina; Pavol Breslik and Nathan Gunn as their dubious lovers, Ferrando and Guglielmo; and Wolfgang Holzmair, in his Met debut, as the cynical middle-aged bachelor Don Alfonso, who enlists the younger men in a scheme to prove that "all women are like that."

The "prodigiously gifted" Christie "has rewritten musical history" (The Guardian) with his explorations of the baroque repertory. In France, his country of residence, he has received the highest national honors accorded to artists; he was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1993, is an officer in The Order of Arts and Letters, and is a member of the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts.

Swedish soprano Miah Persson debuted at the Met last season, giving well-received performances in the very different roles of Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. Isabel Leonard has appeared in two recent Mozart revivals at the Met, earning positive notices for her "fresh, effervescent, and lovely" (Times) singing as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. Danielle De Niese, who displayed an "ebullient playfulness" (Times) as Figaro's Susanna last season, will add another Mozart maid to her repertoire with her Met role debut as Despina. When Pavol Breslik made his Met debut as Don Ottavio in Giovanni in 2009, the Associated Press raved that his "light, honeyed voice seems ideally suited to Mozart's refined melodic line." Star baritone Nathan Gunn, who sang Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute to great acclaim in 2006 and 2010 and will reprise the role later this year, will sing Guglielmo. The versatile Austrian baritone Wolfgang Holzmair has sung Mozart, Debussy, Britten, Wagner, and Strauss in Europe's great opera houses and is also an accomplished lieder recitalist who, the Washington Post proclaimed, "has a genius for connecting with his audience."

Così fan tutte, directed by Lesley Koenig, features sets and costumes by two-time Tony winner Michael Yeargan and lighting design by Duane Schuler.

Live Broadcasts Around the World
Così fan tutte will be experienced by millions of people around the world this season on the radio and on the internet, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners.

The November 9 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79, as will the performances on November 23 and December 2.

The November 9 performance will also be available via internet streaming at the Met's web site www.metopera.org.

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