The Met officially announced today that the company will stage Anna Bolena for Anna Netrebko for the opening night of the 2011-2012 season (old news to you, cher public!) and, the following season, Maria Stuarda for Joyce DiDonato.

The company has no current plans to produce Roberto Devereux. In what La Cieca is choosing to consider a stinging slap in the face to — well, at least one soprano — Peter Gelb explained, “The problem is casting ….There’s no singer around today who can sing [Elisabetta].”

And you may make what you will of la Netrebko’s statement about the Bolena: “Fortunately, it’s far enough in the future that I’ll have time to learn it really well.”