The Metropolitan Opera announces its 2023–24 season,

with the most new works in the company’s modern history

 

• Season includes four Met premieres: Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking; Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X; Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, the company’s first opera in Spanish in nearly a century; and John Adams’s El Niño 
• Carrie Cracknell makes her Met debut directing a new production of Carmen and Mariusz Treliński brings a new staging of La Forza del Destino 
• Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Kevin Puts’s The Hours return 
• Major Met debuts include Julia Bullock, Christian Gerhaher, Asmik Grigorian, Davóne Tines, and Jonathan Tetelman  
• Lise Davidsen, Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, Ailyn Pérez, Angel Blue, Piotr Beczała, Nadine Sierra, Ryan Speedo Green, Will Liverman, and Benjamin Bernheim return, among others  
• Nine operas to be transmitted live to cinemas across the globe as part of The Met: Live in HD series

 

 

Act II, Scene 2 of Puccini's "Turandot." Photo: Evan Zimmerman/Met Opera

 

New York, NY (February 22, 2023)—The Metropolitan Opera today announced a 2023–24 season with the most new works in the company’s modern history—including four Met premieres—showcasing its dedication to expanding the repertoire and to reaching new audiences. While fully one-third of the operas presented next season are recent, the lineup also includes a full slate of classics, among them new productions of Bizet’s Carmen and Verdi’s La Forza del Destino and revivals of works by Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Gounod, Mozart, and Gluck.

            The season includes six new productions in all. A host of major singers, conductors, and directors make their Met debuts, and a long list of prominent artists return. Among the important performers making their first appearances at the house are the sopranos Julia Bullock and Asmik Grigorian, the tenors SeokJong Baek and Jonathan Tetelman, the baritone Christian Gerhaher, the bass-baritone Davóne Tines, and the conductors Marin Alsop and recent Grammy winner Xian Zhang. Returning stars include sopranos Lise Davidsen, Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Ailyn Pérez, Nadine Sierra, and Angel Blue; mezzo-sopranos Joyce DiDonato, J’Nai Bridges, and Aigul Akhmetshina; tenors Roberto Alagna, Piotr Beczała, and Benjamin Bernheim; and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, leads four productions as well as Verdi’s Requiem.

The season opens on September 26 with the Met premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, based on Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir about her spiritual ministry to a condemned man. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato stars as Sister Helen, alongside bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as death-row inmate Joseph De Rocher, in a haunting new staging by Ivo van Hove. Soprano Latonia Moore sings Sister Rose, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who sang Helen Prejean in the opera’s 2000 premiere, is De Rocher’s mother. Maestro Nézet-Séguin conducts what has become the most performed contemporary work of the past two decades.

Also among the season’s new works, Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking opera X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X arrives at the Met on November 3. Robert O’Hara, the Tony-nominated director of Slave Play, makes his Met debut with this new production. Baritone Will Liverman, who triumphed in the Met premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, sings Malcolm X. Soprano Leah Hawkins plays his mother, Louise; mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis his sister Ella; bass-baritone Michael Sumuel his brother Reginald; and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson is Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Kazem Abdullah conducts the newly revised score.

November also features Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, the first opera performed in Spanish at the house in nearly a century, opening on November 16. It is the story of a Brazilian opera diva who returns to her homeland to perform at the legendary opera house of Manaus, in a new production by Mary Zimmerman. Maestro Nézet-Séguin leads a cast that includes soprano Ailyn Pérez in the title role of Florencia Grimaldi, soprano Gabriella Reyes as the journalist Rosalba, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the ship’s captain, baritone Mattia Olivieri as his enigmatic first mate, tenor Mario Chang as the captain’s nephew Arcadio, and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and baritone Michael Chioldi as the feuding couple Paula and Álvaro.

The work of eminent American composer John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long absence with the company premiere of his acclaimed Nativity opera-oratorio El Niño on April 23. The dramatic retelling of the Nativity is fully staged in a new production by director Lileana Blain-Cruz, making her Met debut. Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center Theater, received wide acclaim for her Tony-nominated 2022 production of The Skin of Our Teeth. El Niño also brings together three of contemporary opera’s fiercest champions, all making highly anticipated company debuts: Maestro Alsop, who has led more than 200 new-music premieres, soprano Julia Bullock, and bass-baritone Davóne Tines. Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, who previously starred in the company premiere of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, and mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack alternate, completing the trio of principal singers.

Two other new works that recently played to capacity houses and brought in new audiences to the Met are returning to its stage in 2024: Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, starring bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, and Kevin Puts’s The Hours, which will feature the 2022 premiere production’s trio of divas, sopranos Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.

“The future of opera relies on a rebalance between the classics and relatable new work,” said Peter Gelbthe Met’s Maria Manetti Shrem General Manager. “With this lineup for 2023–24, we are addressing the needs of core opera lovers, who think of the Met as the home of the greatest operatic voices, while also embracing the younger and more diverse audiences that increasingly are responding to new musical and theatrical experiences.”

Maestro Nézet-Séguin added, “We are thrilled that this season speaks to the world we live in, while pushing the boundaries of traditional opera in ways that challenge and invigorate us. I am committed to conducting the music of our time and am personally excited to dive into these new works and help reveal their genius to the audience.”

In a New Year’s Eve gala premiere, acclaimed director Carrie Cracknell makes her Met debut with a new production of one of opera’s most enduring titles, Bizet’s Carmen. Conductor Daniele Rustioni leads a cast starring rising mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina in the title role and tenor Piotr Beczała as Carmen’s lover Don José, as well as soprano Angel Blue as the devoted Micaëla and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as the swaggering Escamillo. Cracknell moves this classic story of deadly passion to modern times amid a band of human traffickers.

Maestro Nézet-Séguin opens the spring season on February 26 when he conducts Mariusz Treliński’s  staging of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, the Met’s first new production of the work in nearly 30 years. With soprano Lise Davidsen, one of the most sought-after sopranos of her generation, starring as Leonora, Treliński relocates this grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendettas, and family strife to contemporary America. The distinguished cast also features tenor Brian Jagde as Leonora’s forbidden beloved, Don Alvaro; baritone Igor Golovatenko as her vengeful brother, Don Carlo; mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Preziosilla; bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as Fra Melitone; and bass Soloman Howard as both Leonora’s father and Padre Guardiano. Davidsen also presents a solo recital at the Met on September 14, 2023.

The season includes performances of Verdi’s Requiem, with soprano Leah Hawkins, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as soloists and Maestro Nézet-Séguin on the podium.

Along with the slate of new works, ten revivals of classic repertory round out the roster, including Verdi’s Nabucco and Un Ballo in Maschera; Puccini’s La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, and La Rondine; Wagner’s Tannhäuser; Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (with a spectacular pair of leads: soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Benjamin Bernheim); Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice; and the company’s popular abridged, English-language version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute during the holiday season.

 

A scene from Verdi's Nabucco. Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

 

Among other artists making important debuts at the Met next season are sopranos Nina Minasyan, Elena Pankratova, and Elena Villalón; countertenors Siman Chung and Key’mon W. Murrah; and conductors Christian Curnyn, Oksana Lyniv, and Diego Matheuz. Marco Armiliato, Daniele Callegari, Steven Osgood, Carlo Rizzi, Evan Rogister, Donald Runnicles, Speranza Scappucci, and Kensho Watanabe return to the podium.

A full complement of stars is also returning this season, including Janai Brugger, Eleonora Buratto, Charles Castronovo, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Stephen Costello, Christine Goerke, Michael Fabiano, Ying Fang, Anita Hartig, Quinn Kelsey, Aleksandra Kurzak, Kathryn Lewek, Federica Lombardi, Clémentine Margaine, Liudmyla Monastyrska Andreas Schager, Elza van den Heever, Christian Van Horn, and Rolando Villazón, among them.

            Further details on new productions, revivals, special events, The Met: Live in HD, and more programs and initiatives can be found below.

 

 

New Productions

 

Opening: September 26, 2023

Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Steven Osgood^*

Production: Ivo van Hove

Set and Lighting Designer: Jan Versweyveld

Costume Designer: An D’Huys

Projection Designer: Christopher Ash

Sound Designer: Tom Gibbons^*

 

*Debut

 

Live in HD: October 21, 2023

 

Jake Heggie’s powerful work has its highly anticipated Met premiere in a new production by Ivo van Hove. Based on Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir about her fight for the soul of a condemned murderer, Dead Man Walking matches the high drama of its subject with Heggie’s poignant music and a libretto by Tony and Emmy Award–winner Terrence McNally. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium, with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato starring as Sister Helen. The cast also features bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as the death-row inmate Joseph De Rocher, soprano Latonia Moore as Sister Rose, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham—who sang Helen Prejean in the opera’s 2000 premiere—as De Rocher’s mother. Steven Osgood conducts two performances in his Met debut.

 

Music by Jake Heggie

Libretto by Terrence McNally

Based on the Book by Sister Helen Prejean

 

Production a gift of C. Graham Berwind, III; the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation; Ted Snowdon and Duffy Violante, in memory of Terrence McNally; and Mrs. Diane B. Wilsey

Additional funding from Franci Neely; Denise Littlefield Sobel, in memory of Phyllis Cannon Wattis; and The H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D. and Oscar Tang Endowment Fund

 

 

Opening: November 3, 2023

Conductor: Kazem Abdullah

Production: Robert O’Hara^*

Set Designer: Clint Ramos^*

Costume Designer: Dede Ayite^*

Lighting Designer: Alex Jainchill^*

Projection Designer: Yee Eun Nam^*

Choreographer: Rickey Tripp^*

 

*Debut

 

Live in HD: November 18, 2023

 

Anthony Davis’s groundbreaking opera, which premiered in 1986, arrives at the Met at long last. Robert O’Hara, who was nominated for a Tony Award in 2020 for his direction of Slave Play, oversees a new staging that imagines Malcolm as an everyman whose story transcends time and space. A cast of breakout artists bring to life the operatic retelling of Malcolm X’s life. Baritone Will Liverman, who triumphed in the Met premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, sings Malcolm. Soprano Leah Hawkins plays his mother, Louise; mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis his sister Ella; bass-baritone Michael Sumuel is his brother Reginald; and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson portrays Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Kazem Abdullah conducts the newly revised score, which provides a layered, jazz-inflected setting for the esteemed writer Thulani Davis’s libretto.

 

Music by Anthony Davis

Libretto by Thulani Davis

Story by Christopher Davis

 

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, Detroit Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Omaha, and Seattle Opera

 

Production a gift of The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., and the Ford Foundation

 

Additional funding from the Francis Goelet Endowment Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts

 

 

Opening: November 16, 2023

Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Production: Mary Zimmerman

Set Designer: Riccardo Hernandez^*

Costume Designer: Ana Kuzmanic

Lighting Designer: T.J. Gerckens

Projection Designer: S. Katy Tucker

Choreographer: Alex Sanchez*

 

*Debut

 

Live in HD: December 9, 2023

 

Sung in Spanish and inspired by the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez, Mexican composer Daniel Catán’s 1996 opera focuses on an opera diva, Florencia Grimaldi, who returns to her native Brazil to perform and search for her lost lover, who has vanished into the jungle. The Met premiere stars soprano Ailyn Pérez as Florencia—in a role debut—in a new production by Mary Zimmerman that brings the mystical realm of the Amazon to the Met stage. The distinguished ensemble of artists portraying the diva’s fellow travelers on the river boat to Manaus features Gabriella Reyes as the journalist Rosalba, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the ship’s captain, baritone Mattia Olivieri as his enigmatic first mate, tenor Mario Chang as the captain’s nephew Arcadio, and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and baritone Michael Chioldi as the feuding couple Paula and Álvaro, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium.

 

Production a gift of The Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund

Opening: December 31, 2023

Conductor: Daniele Rustioni / Diego Matheuz^*

Production: Carrie Cracknell^*

Set Designer: Michael Levine

Costume Designer: Tom Scutt^*

Lighting Designer: Guy Hoare^*

Projection Designer: rocafilm / Roland Horvath^*

Choreographer: Ann Yee^*

 

*Debut

 

Live in HD: January 27, 2024

 

The Met celebrates the new year with a new production of one of opera’s most popular works. Acclaimed English director Carrie Cracknell makes her Met debut, reinvigorating the classic story of deadly passion with a staging that moves the action to the present day, amid a band of human traffickers. Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina leads a powerhouse quartet of stars in the touchstone role of the irresistible femme fatale, alongside tenor Piotr Beczała as Carmen’s lover Don José, soprano Angel Blue as the devoted Micaëla, and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen as the swaggering Escamillo. Daniele Rustioni conducts Bizet’s heart-pounding score. Later in the season, another cast of world-class singers takes over, with mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine reprising her portrayal of the title role, tenor Michael Fabiano as Don José, soprano Ailyn Pérez as Micaëla, bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as Escamillo, and Diego Matheuz making his company debut on the podium.

 

Production a gift of Adrienne Arsht and Elizabeth M. and Jean-Marie R. Eveillard

 

Opening: February 26, 2024

Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Production: Mariusz Treliński

Set Designer: Boris Kudlička

Costume Designer: Moritz Junge

Lighting Designer: Marc Heinz

Projection Designer: Bartek Macias

Choreographer: Maćko Prusak^*

 

*Debut

 

Live in HD: March 9, 2024

 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, with stellar soprano Lise Davidsen, following a string of recent Met triumphs, in her role debut as the noble Leonora. Director Mariusz Treliński delivers the company’s first new Forza in nearly 30 years, setting the scene in a contemporary America. The cast also features tenor Brian Jagde as Don Alvaro, baritone Igor Golovatenko as Don Carlo, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Preziosilla, bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as Fra Melitone, and bass Soloman Howard as both Leonora’s father and Padre Guardiano. In the final three performances, soprano Elena Stikhina stars as Leonora.

 

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and Teatr Wielki-Polish National Opera

 

Production a gift of Lynne and Richard Pasculano and the Rosalie J. Coe Weir Endowment Fund

 

Additional funding from the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Endowment Fund

 

Major support provided by Rolex

 

Opening: April 23, 2024

Conductor: Marin Alsop^*

Production: Lileana Blain-Cruz^*

Set Designer: Adam Rigg^*

Costume Designer: Montana Levi Blanco

Lighting Designer: Yi Zhao^*

Projection Designer: Hannah Wasileski^*

Sound Designer: Mark Grey

Puppet Designer: James Ortiz^*

 

*Debut

 

John Adams returns to the Met after a decade-long hiatus for the company premiere of his acclaimed Nativity opera-oratorio, which incorporates sacred and secular texts in English, Spanish, and Latin, from biblical times to the present day, in a dramatic retelling of the Nativity. The fully staged new production marks the Met debut of Lileana Blain-Cruz, resident director at Lincoln Center. El Niño includes three important debuts—conductor Marin Alsop, soprano Julia Bullock, and bass-baritone Davóne Tines—with mezzo-sopranos J’Nai Bridges and Daniela Mack alternating in the trio of principal singers.

 

Production a gift of C. Graham Berwind, III

 

 

Revivals by Month

 

September

 

Verdi’s Requiem

 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for three performances of Verdi’s soul-stirring Requiem, a unique towering masterpiece that stands as one of the repertory’s great showcases of vocal, choral, and orchestral writing. A thrilling quartet of soloists joins the magnificent Met Orchestra and Chorus: soprano Leah Hawkins, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy.

 

 

Verdi’s Nabucco

 

Live in HD: January 6, 2024

 

Ancient Babylon comes to life in a classic Met staging of biblical proportions. Baritone George Gagnidze makes his Met role debut as the imperious king Nabucco, alongside soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska reprising her thrilling turn as his vengeful daughter Abigaille. Mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova and tenor SeokJong Baek, in his company debut, are Fenena and Ismaele, and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy repeats his celebrated portrayal of the high priest Zaccaria. Daniele Callegari conducts Verdi’s early masterpiece, which features the ultimate showcase for the great Met Chorus, the moving “Va, pensiero.”

 

October

 

Puccini’s La Bohème

 

Puccini’s tragedy returns with three dynamic duos as the bohemian lovers. Soprano Federica Lombardi and tenor Matthew Polenzani star first as Mimì and Rodolfo, followed by Anita Hartig and Stephen Costello, and then Elena Stikhina and Joseph Calleja. Sopranos Olga Kulchynska, Heidi Stober, and Kristina Mkhitaryan and baritones Adam Plachetka and Alexey Markov are the tempestuous lovers Musetta and Marcello. Maestros Carlo Rizzi and Marco Armiliato take the podium to oversee Franco Zeffirelli’s magnificent production.

 

Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera

 

Verdi’s kaleidoscopic drama appears for the first time since 2015, with tenor Charles Castronovo making his Met role debut as the Swedish king whose love for his friend’s wife spells his undoing. Carlo Rizzi conducts an all-star ensemble that also features soprano Elena Stikhina as Amelia, the object of Gustavo’s affections, and reigning Verdi baritone Quinn Kelsey as her husband, Count Anckarström. David Alden’s stylized production also features mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova as the fortune teller Ulrica and soprano Nina Minasyan in her Met debut as the precocious page Oscar.

 

November

 

Wagner’s Tannhäuser

 

Following his performance as Siegfried in the Met’s 2019 Ring cycle, Austrian tenor Andreas Schager returns as the knight Tannhäuser in Wagner’s opera of love, lust, and redemption. Soprano Elza van den Heever is the pure and virtuous princess Elisabeth, alongside mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as the tempting goddess of love, Venus. Maestro Donald Runnicles takes the podium for Otto Schenk’s classic production, which also features baritone Christian Gerhaher, in his Met debut, as Tannhäuser’s companion knight Wolfram and bass Georg Zeppenfeld as Landgraf Hermann.

 

December

 

Mozart’s The Magic Flute—Holiday Presentation

 

A New York holiday tradition, the Met’s family-friendly production of Mozart’s dazzling fairy tale returns, sung in English and running under two hours. Julie Taymor’s staging features a standout cast including tenors Piotr Buszewski and Joshua Blue are Tamino, the brave prince on a quest to win the clever princess Pamina, sung by sopranos Janai Brugger and Liv Redpath, in her Met stage debut. The cast also features tenors Rolando Villazón and baritone Alexander Birch Elliott as the luckless bird catcher Papageno and sopranos Kathryn Lewek and Jeni Houser as the Queen of the Night, alongside basses Brindley Sherratt and James Creswell as Sarastro. Patrick Furrer and Gareth Morrell share conducting duties.

 

January

 

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly

 

Live in HD: May 11, 2024

 

Three sopranos—Aleksandra Kurzak, Eleonora Buratto, and Asmik Grigorian (in her eagerly anticipated Met debut)—tackle the demanding role of Cio-Cio-San, the trusting geisha at the heart of Puccini’s tragedy. Tenors Matthew Polenzani and Jonathan Tetelman trade off as the callous American naval officer Pinkerton, whose betrayal destroys her. Mezzo-sopranos Elizabeth DeShong and Eve Gigliotti are the steadfast maid Suzuki, and baritones Davide Luciano and Lucas Meachem are the American consul Sharpless. Acclaimed maestro Xian Zhang makes her Met debut conducting Anthony Minghella’s vivid production.

 

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, English National Opera, and the Lithuanian National Opera

 

February

 

Puccini’s Turandot

 

Franco Zeffirelli’s vision of mythic China retakes the stage, with soprano Elena Pankratova making her Met debut as the legendary and lethal title princess, opposite tenor SeokJong Baek as the prince who puts his life on the line to win her love. Later in the season, soprano Christine Goerke and tenor Roberto Alagna assume the starring roles. Sopranos Aleksandra Kurzak, Gabriella Reyes, and Olga Kulchynska alternate as Liù, with basses Vitalij Kowaljow, Peixin Chen, and Soloman Howard as Timur. Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv makes her Met debut, sharing performances with Marco Armiliato.

 

March

 

Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette

 

Live in HD: March 23, 2024

 

Two singers at the height of their powers—soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Benjamin Bernheim—come together as the star-crossed lovers in Gounod’s Shakespeare adaptation, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium to conduct one of the repertoire’s most romantic scores. Bartlett Sher’s staging also features baritone Will Liverman and tenor Frederick Ballentine as the archrivals Mercutio and Tybalt, mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey as the mischievous pageboy Stéphano, and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Frère Laurent.

 

A La Scala Production, initially presented by the Salzburg Festival

 

 

Puccini’s La Rondine

 

Live in HD: April 20, 2024

 

Puccini’s bittersweet love story makes a rare Met appearance, with soprano Angel Blue starring as the sophisticated French courtesan Magda, opposite tenor Jonathan Tetelman in his company debut as Ruggero, an idealistic young man who offers her an alternative to her life of excess. Maestro Speranza Scappucci conducts Nicolas Joël’s Art Deco–inspired staging, which transports audiences from the heart of Parisian nightlife to a dreamy vision of the French Riviera. Soprano Emily Pogorelc and tenor Bekhzod Davronov—both making their Met debuts—complete the cast as Lisette and Prunier.

 

A co-production of Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse; and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

 

April

 

Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones

 

Terence Blanchard’s drama returns for the first time since its company premiere in 2021, with bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green starring as Charles, a young man faced with a fateful decision. Soprano Latonia Moore reprises her portrayal as Charles’s mother, Billie, with rising soprano Brittany Renee doing triple duty as Charles’s love interest, Greta, as well embodiments of Loneliness and Destiny. James Robinson and Camille A. Brown’s production includes what is surely the only step dance in opera. Evan Rogister conducts Blanchard’s score, which powerfully melds opera and jazz.

 

An opera by Terence Blanchard

Libretto by Kasi Lemmons

Based on the Book by Charles M. Blow

 

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera. Originally commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, co-commissioned by Jazz St. Louis.

 

A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago

 

May

 

Kevin Puts’s The Hours

 

Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’s new opera, which played to sold-out audiences in its world-premiere production in the 2022–23 season, returns. The original trio of divas—sopranos Renée Fleming and Kelli O’Hara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato—reprise their portrayals of three women from different eras whose lives are connected through Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway. Bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen also returns as the dying author Richard, and Kensho Watanabe conducts Phelim McDermott’s immersive staging of this heart-wrenching drama, adapted from Michael Cunningham’s acclaimed novel and the Oscar-winning film it inspired.

 

Based on the book by Michael Cunningham and the Paramount Pictures film

 

Commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and The Philadelphia Orchestra

 

In collaboration with Improbable

 

Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice

 

Last seen at the Met in the title role of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo stars as the mythic hero who ventures into the Underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice. Soprano Ying Fang is his ill-fated bride, with soprano Elena Villalón in her company debut as Amore, the god of love who sets Orfeo on his quest. Making his Met debut, Christian Curnyn conducts Gluck’s sublime setting of the ancient tale, enlivened by exuberant direction and choreography from the legendary Mark Morris and featuring members of his renowned Mark Morris Dance Group.

 

Special Events

 

Met Orchestra and Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall

 

The Met Orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall for its annual series of three performances. Dates, programming, and soloists will be announced by Carnegie Hall in March.

            Re-launched during the 2021–22 season, the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble also returns to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall for a series of concerts. Dates, programming, and soloists will also be announced by Carnegie in March.

 

Laffont Grand Finals Concert

 

            The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition serves to discover promising young opera singers throughout North America and assist in their artistic and professional development. More than 1,000 applicants participate in a series of auditions leading up to the Grand Finals Concert, which will be held on Sunday, March 17, 2024, featuring the Met Orchestra, conducted by Evan Rogister. The finalists will compete for cash prizes and the chance to launch a major operatic career.

 

The Met: Live in HD

 

            Nine live Met performances will be transmitted to cinemas across the globe as part of The Met: Live in HD series, which begins on October 21, 2023 with Dead Man Walking and continues with X:The Life and Times of Malcolm X (November 18, 2023), Florencia en el Amazonas (December 9, 2023), Nabucco (January 6, 2024), Carmen (January 27, 2024), La Forza del Destino (March 9, 2024), Roméo et Juliette (March 23, 2024), La Rondine (April 20, 2024), and Madama Butterfly (May 11, 2024).

            The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met: Live in HD series is supported by Rolex.

Within months of their initial live transmissions, the Live in HD programs are shown on PBS in the United States. The PBS series Great Performances at the Met is produced in association with PBS and WNET.

 

The Met: Live at Home

The Met: Live at Home streaming platform will continue to offer select audiences worldwide the opportunity to watch the Met’s acclaimed series of simulcasts from any device in the comfort of their homes. Streaming is only available in select areas around the world where The Met: Live in HD is not offered. The Met: Live at Home events will be available to watch live and for a seven-day on-demand period following. The 2023–24 season of transmissions will include all nine Live in HD titles.

 

Education

 

Now in all 50 states, the Met’s HD Live in Schools program returns to 66 school districts across the country with live HD transmissions. The 2023–24 season live cinema transmissions include Dead Man Walking (October 21, 2023), X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (November 18, 2023), Florencia en el Amazonas (December 9, 2023), Carmen (January 27, 2024), and Madama Butterfly (May 11, 2024). Met Education will also continue to provide access to Met Opera on Demand for all students and teachers. The National Educators Conference, a professional-development initiative that brings together teachers and administrators from across the United States, will also return to the Met in October, followed by two professional-development conferences in the winter and the spring. More details to be announced at a later date.

            Met Education will host its fourth annual virtual Global Summer Camp. The summer camp offers a range of free online activities led by educators and Met artists. More than 4,000 students in more than 70 countries have participated in the Global Summer Camp. Dates and programming will be announced at a later date.

 

Fridays Under 40

            The Met’s Friday’s Under 40 discount-ticket program returns in the 2023–24 season to welcome operagoers 40 and under for every Friday performances at special discounted rates, with select dates featuring a complimentary pre-performance party. This year’s party dates include Dead Man Walking (October 6, 2023), Un Ballo in Maschera (October 20, 2023), X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (November 24, 2023), The Magic Flute (December 15, 2023), Carmen (January 19, 2024), Roméo et Juliette (March 15, 2024), Fire Shut Up in My Bones (April 12, 2024), Madama Butterfly (April 26, 2024), The Hours (May 24, 2024), and Turandot (June 7, 2024).

 

The Met on the Radio and Online

 

The Met’s 93rd consecutive Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcast season begins December 9 with Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas and runs through June 8, 2024, concluding with Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. The broadcast season will once again be heard over the Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Debra Lew Harder returns as host, and Ira Siff returns as commentator for the broadcasts. The Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast series will be supported with generous long-term support from the Annenberg Foundation and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg, the Neubauer Family Foundation, and the Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for Broadcast Media, and through contributions from listeners worldwide.

Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 355 continues as the country’s premier subscription radio channel dedicated to opera, with live performances presented each week during the season, hosted by Debra Lew Harder and featuring commentator William Berger, as well as encore presentations of historic broadcasts from the Met’s vast collection, stretching back to the 1930s. Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM is available to subscribers in the United States and Canada.

 

Met Opera on Demand

 

The Met’s exclusive streaming service now features more than 825 full-length Met performances, available worldwide on multiple platforms that include computers; Amazon Fire TV and Tablet; iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV; Android; Roku; and Samsung Smart TV. The Met Opera on Demand library includes more than 145 presentations from the Live in HD series, as well as more than 80 classic telecasts and more than 575 radio broadcasts dating back to 1935.

 

Support for Met Opera on Demand is provided by the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation and Dorothy and Charles H. Jenkins, Jr.

 

Met Opera on Demand: Student Access allows university and college libraries to make this digital resource from the Met accessible to their student populations. Now in its ninth year, Student Access is currently available at more than 165 schools around the world.

 

Lindemann Young Artist Development Program

 

The Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program will continue to nurture and develop great operatic talent under the leadership of Artistic Director Maestro Nézet-Séguin, Executive Director Melissa Wegner, and Head of Music Myra Huang. Nine current Lindemann artists will return next season, and the complete roster of 2023–24 artists will be announced later this year.

 

Health-and-Safety Information

With the recent changes in CDC guidelines and the availability of vaccines and boosters, we have now been advised that it is no longer necessary for us to mandate audiences to wear masks during performances. As of October 24, 2022, in conjunction with the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Carnegie Hall, and many other venues throughout the city, masking is optional for all Met audience members. Audiences who wish to continue to wear masks are, of course, welcome to do so. We also continue to ask that if you are suffering from cold-like symptoms, you stay home and visit metopera.org/commitment or call Met Customer Care at 212.362.6000 for assistance.

 

Ticket Information

Ticket prices for the 2023–24 season range from $25 to $480 for the 3,800 seats in the opera house. Single-ticket buyers and subscribers may exchange their tickets online by logging in to their account on metopera.org and visiting the Tickets section of the My Account page. Exchanges may also be requested by calling Met Customer Care at 212.362.6000 or visiting the Met box office.

The Rush Tickets program returns in 2023–24, making more than 30,000 $25 tickets available to the general public. Rush Tickets can be purchased on a first-come first-served basis by visiting metopera.org at 12 p.m. for weekday performances, 2 p.m. for Saturday evening performances, and 4 hours before curtain for matinee performances.

 

The Met Opera Students program also returns, offering $35 tickets to many operas to student members of the program. The Students program also offers invitations to artist lectures, discounts at the Met Opera Shop, and the opportunity to meet other opera lovers at special student events.