Metropolitan Opera 2024-25

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Every year after the Met announces its next season I’m filled with anticipation—and disappointment. The details of 2024-25 aren’t any different. Only two of the six new productions are of operas that Met has performed before—Aida and Salome—and both were originally conceived for Anna Netrebko but postponed until next season. The remaining four Met new productions feature works that premiered in the 21st century: Grounded, Ainadamar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Moby-Dick.

Notable debuts that got my attention include Christina Nilsson, Luca Micheletti, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Jack Swanson, Adela Zaharia, Pene Pati and Freddie De Tommaso. Returning singers include Peter Mattei, Elina Garanca, Violeta Urmana, Rachel Willis-Sorensen, and René Pape.

There will be lots of performances of La bohème, Tosca, Die Zauberflöte, and Le Nozze di Figaro—the latter two a welcome back to (full-length) Mozart. Figaro, imaginatively double cast, will be conducted by Joana Mallwitz, one of several debuting conductors. I’m curious if the wonderful Simon McBurney Zauberflöte will prove as magical the second time.

This season’s lack of Strauss will be made up for by the new Salome and the long-awaited revival of the Wernicke Die Frau ohne Schatten. I’m thrilled to see that the Met has rescheduled Lise Davidsen in Fidelio with a strong cast conducted by Susanna Mälkki. Not sure what I think about Davidsen taking on Tosca, an opera which will also see Sondra Radvanovsky in a role she’s already done many times at the Met.

I’m looking forward to the impressively cast Moby Dick and how Aigul Akhmetshina fares in comedy as Rosina. Will Mimi be the best vehicle for Corinne Winters? Why is Marco Armiliato conducting Les Contes d’Hoffmann–with Benjamin Bernheim and Christian van Horn repeating their recent Paris successes. Michael Fabiano follows his San Francisco Ballo Riccardo with Manrico at the Met, rushing to save step-mom Jamie Barton! What are the odds that Sonya Yoncheva will sing Liza in Pique Dame in May 2025?