A source close to (though not necessarily at) the Metropolitan Opera tells La Cieca that the company’s production staff “late last week” pitched the idea of reviving the Franco Zeffirelli production of Tosca in the fall of 2010 in order to free up some backstage space for the “QEII-sized” sets for the new Rheingold. Peter’s Gelb‘s answer?  A resounding “no!”  So, La Cieca predicts, you can count on Luc Bondy‘s vision of the Puccini shocker to return the boards as scheduled.

Apparently the necessary elbow room will be obtained by cutting down on some of the clutter of Zack Brown‘s Rigoletto sets, substituting elements from a lighter version of the production created for a 2001 tour of Japan.

A representative of the Met’s press department says, “At this point we have not confirmed next season’s rep.”