The Metropolitan Opera‘s 2019–20 season opened on September 23 with a new production of the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, with Eric Owens and Angel Blue in the title roles. It’s the first of five compelling new stagings, including two Met premieres.
Additional Highlighs:
Akhnaten by Philip Glass conducted by Karen Kamensek in her Met debut. Anthony Roth Costanzo sings the title role of the Egyptian pharaoh who attempted to inspire his people to abandon the worship of the old gods for that of a single deity. In her Met debut, J’Nai Bridges sings the role of Nefertiti, Akhnaten’s bride, and Dísella Lárusdóttir is Queen Tye, the pharaoh’s mother. One of the staging’s distinctive visual features is provided by the Gandini Juggling Company, whose movements are perfectly choreographed with the orchestral score. This production of Akhnaten was originally created by LA Opera, Improbable, and English National Opera, where it premiered, winning the 2017 Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production.
Wozzeck by Alban Berg Yannick. Nézet-Séguin conducts William Kentridge’s new production or this work, regarded for its intense emotional power and brilliant score as one of the most significant operas of the 20th century. Composed during and in the aftermath of World War I, Berg’s dark exploration of a soldier besieged by the evils of society, is staged by Kentridge in a ramshackle warren of stairs, ramps, discarded furniture, and debris. His own theatrically animated charcoal drawings, along with other projected drawings, maps, and film clips, evoke a nightmarish world of crashed planes, searchlights, ghostly gas masks, and battlefields. Peter Mattei makes his role debut as Wozzeck opposite Elza van den Heever as Marie, the mother of his child. Singing the roles of Wozzeck’s tormentors are Christopher Ventris as the Drum-Major, Gerhard Siegel as the Captain, and Christian Van Horn as the Doctor. Andrew Staples makes his Met debut as Andres. Kentridge, who previously directed Berg’s Lulu and Shostakovich’s The Nose at the Met, unveiled the new production at the 2017 Salzburg Festival, where it received critical acclaim. Kentridge’s production is a co-production of the Met, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Australia, and Salzburg Festival.
The Met: Live in HD
The Metropolitan Opera’s award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, began its 14th season on October 12, with the Met’s production of Puccini’s Turandot, starring Christine Goerke in the title role, led by the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
The 2019–20 Live in HD season features ten transmissions, including five new productions: the Met premiere of Philip Glass’s groundbreaking 20th-century opera Akhnaten, starring Anthony Roth Costanzo as the title pharaoh, conducted by Karen Kamensek; Peter Mattei in the title role of Berg’s Wozzeck, in a new staging by acclaimed visual artist and stage director William Kentridge, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin; a new production of the Gershwins’ classic American opera Porgy and Bess, last performed at the Met in 1990, starring Eric Owens and Angel Blue, directed by James Robinson and conducted by David Robertson; the Met premiere of Handel’s Agrippina, starring Joyce DiDonato in a contemporary staging by Sir David McVicar that promises to resonate with modern audiences; and a new take on Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, starring Sir Bryn Terfel in the title role.
Sundays at the Met
For the first time, the Met presents Sunday matinee performances and offers two Sunday subscription series. The schedule includes 16 Sunday matinees, with a regular start time of 3PM, so that you can enjoy even more weekend performances this season.
Flex Subscriptions
Also for the first time, you have the option of purchasing a Flex Subscription, which allows you to choose your own package of performances while still receiving the benefits of a subscription. Flex subscriptions guarantee seats in the same section for whichever productions most appeal to you, along with a savings of up to 15% off single ticket prices. Simply select between six and nine operas of your choice.
