Put a Ring on it

By La Cieca

August 11, 2010

With 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.