Verdi's late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, Otello, airs on THIRTEEN'SGreat Performances at the Met Sunday, February 21 at 12 p.m. on PBS.
On Sunday, January 17, Opera Index will present its 37th Distinguished Achievement Award to Dolora Zajick, a true dramatic mezzo-soprano, acclaimed by The New York Times as “a mezzo in a class by herself,” at a gala evening beginning at 6 p.m. at JW Marriott Essex House, 160 Central Park South.
Faced with the demands of rehearsing and performing two large-scale operas simultaneously this fall, Met Music Director James Levine has decided to lighten his workload by removing the new production of Berg's Lulu from his schedule so that he may focus his energies completely on Wagner's epic drama Tannhäuser.
Katherine Farley, Chair of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and Judith-Ann Corrente, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Metropolitan Opera, along with Lincoln Center President Jed Bernstein and Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb, today welcomed The First Lady of China, Madame Peng Liyuan, at an intimate reception in the Metropolitan Opera house attended by officials and guests of Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, and the New York Consulate of the People's Republic of China.
After its preliminary closing of the books for Fiscal Year 2015 (the 2014-15 season), the Metropolitan Opera reports that it has balanced its budget and ended the season with a surplus of $1 million. The results are a significant turnaround from the company's previous fiscal year, which ended with a budget shortfall of $22 million. The Met's financial success was achieved through budget cuts—including the implementation of historic new union agreements and a program of cross-departmental spending reductions—as well as increased contributions from donors. Final audited financial results for the season will be available in January.
There will be a memorial service for Margaret today, September 16 at 5 p.m in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.
The Metropolitan Opera will open its 131st season on Monday, September 21 with a new production of Verdi's Otello. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met opening night, a staging by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher of the late Verdi masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit. Aleksandrs Antonenko, who has starred as the doomed Otello around the world to acclaim, makes his Met role debut opposite rising Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva in her first-ever performances of Otello's innocent wife Desdemona. Željko Lu?i? adds a new role to his company repertory as the evil Iago, as do Dimitri Pittas as Iago's pawn Cassio and Günther Groissböck as the Venetian ambassador Lodovico. Sher's staging will feature scenic design by acclaimed designer Es Devlin in her Met debut; costume design by six-time Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber; lighting design by two-time Tony winner Donald Holder; and video design by Luke Halls in his Met debut.
Margaret Juntwait, American radio broadcaster and the voice of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, debuted in this position on December 11, 2004, replacing Peter Allen upon his retirement after 29 years. She lost her life to cancer on June 3, 2015, after serving as host of the program for ten seasons. There will be a memorial service for Margaret on Wednesday, September 16 at 5 p.m in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.
Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman, whose many credits include the Tony Award-winning musicals Crazy for You, Contact, and The Producers, makes her Met debut with a lavish new staging of Lehar's effervescent operetta The Merry Widow
Acclaimed Polish film director Mariusz Treliski makes his highly anticipated Met debut with the Metropolitan Opera's new production, inspired by classic noir films of the 1940s, bringing together two rarely performed one-acts
Margaret Juntwait, American radio broadcaster, and the voice of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts, debuted in this position on December 11, 2004, replacing Peter Allen upon his retirement after twenty-nine years. She lost her life to cancer on June 3, 2015.
Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman, whose many credits include the Tony Award-winning musicals Crazy for You, Contact, and The Producers, makes her Met debut with a lavish new staging of Lehár's effervescent operetta The Merry Widow. Star soprano Renée Flemingadds a beguiling new character to her wide-ranging Met repertory as Hanna, the widowed Pontevedrian millionairess.
Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman, whose many credits include the Tony Award-winning musicals Crazy for You, Contact, and The Producers, makes her Met debut with a lavish new staging of Lehr's effervescent operetta The Merry Widow.
The Metropolitan Opera and Fathom Events partner to present "The Met: Live in HD' 2015 Summer Encores," a series of four encore performances from the 2014-2015 Live in HD series in more than 480 U.S. cinemas nationwide through Fathom's Digital Broadcast Network.
Calixto Bieito will make his Metropolitan Opera debut with a new production of Verdi's “La Forza del Destino” to be conducted by James Levine, in the 2016-17 season, it was announced.
Met Music Director James Levine conducts Wagner's epic human comedy Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg('The Mastersinger of Nuremberg') in its first Great Performances at the Met broadcast.
Last August, an agreement was reached to resolve a potential labor crisis at the Metropolian Opera, the nation's largest performing arts organization.
It has been a very good year in New York for the Mozart of Swedish baritone Peter Mattei. He helped open the season with the Met's new production of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, receiving a splendid reception for his performance as Count Almaviva, which brought new insights to a role that frequently gets lost in the shuffle of the large ensemble. Then came his DON GIOVANNI, which finishes up its run on Friday March 6, aptly called “commanding” by The New York Times.
Baritone Quinn Kelsey has been named the recipient of the tenth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met.
The Met's effervescent production of Rossini's classic comedy Il Barbiere di Siviglia featuring some of the most instantly recognizable melodies in all of operareturns to Great Performances at the Met on Sunday, March 22 at 12 p.m.
Videos
