Before the opening night performance of Verdi's Don Carlos, the audience observed a moment of silence, followed by the Ukrainian national anthem, performed by the Met Orchestra and Chorus and conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
For the first time in company history, the Metropolitan Opera will present the original five-act French version of Verdi’s Don Carlos, with eight performances February 28–March 26. Verdi’s epic opera about doomed love during the Spanish Inquisition first premiered in French at the Paris Opera in 1867.