The Metropolitan Opera announces its first-ever Met Orchestra Asia tour,

with performances in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, June 19–30

 

·       Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin to lead Met Orchestra with guests soprano Lisette Oropesa, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn

·       Concert programs to include Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, the overture of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, selections from Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and music by Brahms, Mozart, Mahler, and Jessie Montgomery

 

 

New York, NY (March 7, 2024) The Metropolitan Opera announced today its first-ever Met Orchestra Asia Tour this summer, June 19–30, immediately following its annual June residency at Carnegie Hall. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, will conduct the Met Orchestra, with guest artists soprano Lisette Oropesa, mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn. The concerts will take place at the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, South Korea, on June 19 and 20; the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Hyogo, Japan, on June 22 and 23; Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on June 25, 26, and 27; and the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 29 and 30. 

The programs will feature a concert performance of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, the overture from Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, selections from Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and music by Brahms, Mozart, Mahler, and contemporary composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery.

“At a time of increasing global unrest, the Met offers musical solace to audiences everywhere through our international broadcasts,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s Maria Manetti Shrem General Manager. “But with this first orchestral tour of Asia in our history, we will be bringing our music directly to audiences that, up to now, have only known us from afar.”

“As a conductor, bringing live music and performances to audiences around the world is my passion. It is an absolute joy to lead the wonderful musicians of the Met Orchestra and three of the best opera singers of this generation for audiences in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan for the first time. We look forward to presenting our world-renowned interpretations of Wagner, Debussy, Mozart, and others, but also a new work the world needs now in Jessie Montgomery’s unifying Hymn for Everyone,” said Nézet-Séguin.

           “The Met Opera’s Asia Tour is an exciting opportunity for audiences to hear music by an institution that sets a benchmark for artistic performance," says Arnaud Boetsch, Director of Communication & Image at Rolex. “The Met Opera has been a partner since 2011 and benefits from our commitment through the Perpetual Arts Initiative to perpetuate excellence and contribute to global culture. This tour will be a celebration of the universal connections that opera creates.” 

“The arts help connect communities across the world,” said Brian Siegel, Bank of America Global Arts, Culture and Heritage Executive. “As a longtime partner of the Metropolitan Opera, we are proud to support The Met Orchestra’s inaugural trip to Asia.”

The 2024 Asia Tour will immediately follow the Met Orchestra’s annual June residency at Carnegie Hall, which features concerts on June 11, with Oropesa performing two arias by Mozart, and June 14, with Garanča and Van Horn headlining Bluebeard’s Castle.

Although this will be the Met Orchestra’s first Asia tour on its own, the full Metropolitan Opera company has visited Japan previously, most recently in 2011, when it presented fully staged operas in Tokyo and Nagoya. This will be the Met’s first-ever performances in South Korea and Taiwan.

Sponsors of the Met’s 2024 Asia Tour are Rolex, Bank of America, and So-Chung Shinn Lee and Tony W. Lee. The Met is touring in association with Askonas Holt, Lotte Concert Hall, Fuji Television Network, Inc., and the Management of New Arts.

 

 

The Met Orchestra 2024 Asia Tour

 

Wednesday, June 19, 7:30PM

Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Wagner: Overture to Der Fliegende Holländer

Debussy (arr. Leinsdorf): Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande

Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, featuring Elīna Garanča and Christian Van Horn

 

Thursday, June 20, 7:30PM

Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Montgomery: Hymn for Everyone

Mozart: Concert arias, featuring Lisette Oropesa

“Vado ma dove?,” K. 583

“A Berenice … Sol nascente,” K. 70

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

 

Saturday, June 22, 3PM

Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Hyogo

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Wagner: Overture to Der Fliegende Holländer

Debussy (arr. Leinsdorf): Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande

Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, featuring Elīna Garanča and Christian Van Horn

 

Sunday, June 23, 3PM

Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Hyogo

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Montgomery: Hymn for Everyone

Mozart: Concert arias, featuring Lisette Oropesa

“Vado ma dove?,” K. 583

“A Berenice … Sol nascente,” K. 70

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

 

Tuesday, June 25, 7PM

Suntory Hall, Tokyo

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Wagner: Overture to Der Fliegende Holländer

Debussy (arr. Leinsdorf): Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande

Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, featuring Elīna Garanča and Christian Van Horn

 

Wednesday, June 26, 7PM

Suntory Hall, Tokyo

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Montgomery: Hymn for Everyone

Mozart: Concert arias, featuring Lisette Oropesa

“Vado ma dove?,” K. 583

“A Berenice … Sol nascente,” K. 70

Mahler: Symphony No. 5

 

Thursday, June 27, 7PM

Suntory Hall, Tokyo

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Wagner: Overture to Der Fliegende Holländer

Debussy (arr. Leinsdorf): Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande

Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle, featuring Elīna Garanča and Christian Van Horn

 

Saturday, June 29, 2:30PM

National Concert Hall, Taipei

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Wagner: Overture to Der Fliegende Holländer

Debussy (arr. Leinsdorf): Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande

Gounod: Arias from Roméo et Juliette, featuring Lisette Oropesa

“Je veux vivre dans ce rêve”

“Dieu! Quel frisson … Amour, ranime mon courage”

Brahms: Symphony No. 1

 

Sunday, June 30, 7:30PM

National Concert Hall, Taipei

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor

Montgomery: Hymn for Everyone

Mozart: Concert arias, featuring Lisette Oropesa

“Vado ma dove?,” K. 583

“A Berenice … Sol nascente,” K. 70

 

Mahler: Symphony No. 5