rheingoldWith over 2,600 votes cast over the course of last week, you, the cher public have spoken about which operas in the Met’s repertoire will be de rigueur, can’t miss, where-the-elite-meet Sternstunden, and which productions promise no more than a great big snooze.

The top ten Met offerings will be Die Walküre, Das Rheingold, Le Comte Ory, Boris Godunov, Nixon in China, Don Carlo, Pelléas et Mélisande, Wozzeck, Capriccio and La Fanciulla del West.  La Cieca needs hardly point out, need she, that of next season’s seven new productions, six are in the top ten.

Very few of you want to return to La Bohème (which finished in 22nd place out of 28 presentations, and the family presentation of Die Zauberflöte is the only opera less popular than the revival of Armida.

Following are the complete and utterly unscientific results.

Which productions at the Met can’t be missed?

Die Walküre 297
Das Rheingold 283
Le Comte Ory 238
Boris Godunov 220
Nixon in China 199
Don Carlo 179
Pelléas et Mélisande 143
Wozzeck 143
Capriccio 135
La Fanciulla del West 124
The Queen of Spades 76
Così fan tutte 73
Ariadne auf Naxos 66
Il Trovatore 60
Iphigénie en Tauride 58
Don Pasquale 53
Simon Boccanegra 36
Lucia di Lammermoor 32
Orfeo ed Euridice 28
La Traviata 25
Roméo et Juliette 25
La Bohème 21
Carmen 19
Rigoletto 18
Tosca 18
Les Contes d’Hoffmann 16
Armida 11
Die Zauberflöte 10

La Cieca

James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.

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