Met Opera 2014-15 Season Officially Announced

The Met’s 2014-15 Season Will Feature 26 Operas,

Including Three Met Premieres,

In Six New Productions and 18 Revivals

The season includes the first-ever Met performances of

John Adams’s The Death of Klinghoffer,

Rossini’s La Donna del Lago, and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta

Met Music Director James Levine leads six operas this season,

including the opening night new production of

Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Richard Eyre,

premiering on September 22

On New Year’s Eve, Susan Stroman makes her Met debut directing a

new production of Lehár’s The Merry Widow,

with Renée Fleming in the title role and Andrew Davis conducting

Two double bills of one-act operas receive new productions this season:

Iolanta, with Anna Netrebko in the title role, and

 Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, conducted by Valery Gergiev and

directed by Mariusz Treliński, premieres January 26, 2015

Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci,

conducted by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi and

directed by David McVicar, receives its first new

Met production in 45 years on April 14, 2015

The ninth season of The Met: Live in HD will feature 10 live transmissions,

beginning October 11 with Verdi’s Macbeth, starring Anna Netrebko as Lady Macbeth

Breaking News: Met To Announce New Season Tonight

Here is a preview of the upcoming season with only six new productions this year which is an all time low. The HD season looks like it will also be cut down to nine and all the new productions except Death of a Klinghoffer will be on HD as well as Don Carlos in French, Meistersingers, Caremen, and Les Contes de Hoffman. Once again these are only speculations and more details wil be given out tonight. 

Anna Netrebko Sings At the Olympics

Anna Netrebko just sang at the Olympics. The soprano sang the Olympic anthem opening the Sochi Olympics. This is the second time in a week that an Opera singer performs at a sporting event. On Sunday the people's diva Renee Fleming sang at the Superbowl.  

Jonas Kaufmann's Faust To Be Released on DVD

It looks like Decca Classics wants to get a few more cents out of their former artist Jonas Kaufmann. The company announced the release the Met's Faust. The maligned Des McAnuff production will be on DVD on March 3 in Europe with a later US release. The news comes after Sony announced the release of three new Jonas Kaufmann DVDs. With Decca's news, there will be four Kaufmann performances available in less than two months.  

New CDs and DVD from Bartoli, Florez and Domingo

Decca has finally announced Juan Digo Florez's next album. The CD concentrates o the french repertoire and features works by Gounod, Massanet, Berlioz, Donizetti, and Delibe. Robbert Abbado conduct the Bologna orchestra and it is scheduled for release in March.

And for those Bartoli lovers, Decca is releasing two new DVDs from the Zurich Opera. The first release according to Amazon UK will be Le Comte Ory which has been delayed a number of times. Later Otello will be released. The DVDs come out in anticipation of Bartolis 2014 Whitsun Festival at Salzburg “Rossinissmo.” There she will perform La Cenrentola, Otello, a Rossini Gala and her role debut of L'Italiana in Algeri.    

 

And for Domingo fans, Sony has just announced his next album which features highlights from his Met career. 

Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann To Reunite for Manon Lescaut

While the season has yet to be announced, a recent rumor is confirming that Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann are set to sing a new production of Manon Lescaut at the Bayerische Staatsoper. The rumor has been circulating for a number of months.

The rumors also stated that Diana Damrau will return to the Staatsoper for a new production of Lucia Di Lammermoor and will sing alongside Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja.

The Bayerische Staatsoper is scheduled to release their season in March. 

L'Elisir d"Amore Review Link

For those wondering what happened to the reviews, my continues to write them but now he writes for Latinos Post. As a Result I will start publishing snippets of the review with the link to the full one. I hope this is not a problem as I am trying to give the best Opera coverage possible. Here is a piece from the L'Elisir d'Amore recently presented at the Met

On Feb. 1, the Metropolitan Opera presented Donizetti's "L'Elisir D'Amore" for the final time in the 2013-14 season. The performance was also the last time that soprano Anna Netrebko will play the heroine Adina for an audience; Netrebko herself made the announcement via social media on Sunday.

The revival of the work featured Bartlett Sher's production that opened the 2012-13 season. This writer attended a performance during the 2012-13 season and wrote an extensive analysis of the production (to read it, click HERE). There is really nothing new to add, except for the fact that it still does not work. Most of the new cast members added their own individual touches (more on that later), but the overall concept and idea of the production is still rather bland. The sets are traditional and mostly handsome, but the action is poorly delivered conceptually. A scene change in the middle of act two is not only awkwardly handled (extras walking onstage and pushing scenery on and off) but also excessively distracting to the action taking place between the main characters. In the final analysis, one is left wondering why the Met removed one traditional production (admittedly with little to say) for another that is equally vapid. Continue Reading