2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera Season Debuted 44 Singers

Summary: The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season debuted 44 singers across 18 of the season’s 26 productions.

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Puccini's La Bohème marked Dmytro Popov's Met Opera debut and Ailyn Pérez's Met Opera role debut as Mimì: Askonas Holt @AskonasHolt, via Twitter Sep. 28, 2016

The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season debuted 44 singers, including six child singers, across 18 of the season’s operas. The first singing debut happened Sept. 28, 2016. The season’s last singing debut took place March 16, 2017.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868) opened Jan. 9 and closed Feb. 11. Greek mezzo-soprano Karolina Pilou debuted on opening night.

La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) opened Sept. 28 and closed Jan. 14. Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov debuted opening night as Rodolfo. On Nov. 16, Romanian soprano Brigitta Kele debuted as Musetta.

Carmen by Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875) opened Jan. 19 and closed Feb. 18. Opening night marked debuts by French mezzo soprano Clémentaine Margaine in the title role, Puerto Rican tenor Rafael Davila as Don José and Iranian Canadian mezzo soprano Shirin Eskandani as Mercédès.

Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized Dec. 17, 1770-March 26, 1827) opened March 16 and closed April 8. German soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller debuted opening night as Marzelline.

Rossini’s Guillaume Tell opened Oct. 18 and closed Nov. 12. Opening night introduced the audience to Italian bass Marco Spotti as Walter Furst, Italian-Ukrainian-American tenor Michele Angelini as Ruodi the Fisherman and American baritone Ross Benoliel as the Huntsman.

Idomeneo by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) opened March 6 and closed March 25. American soprano Michelle Bradley and American tenor Rolando Sanz debuted opening night as a Cretan woman and as a Trojan soldier, respectively.

Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri opened Oct. 4 and closed Oct. 26. Opening night marked debuts for Italian mezzo-soprano Marianna Pizzolato in the title role as Isabella, American tenor René Barbera as Lindoro and Canadian Tunisian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb as Zulma.

Jenufa by Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928) opened Oct. 28 and closed Nov. 17. American soprano Clarissa Lyons and American mezzo-soprano Sara Couden debuted opening night as Karolka and as the Aunt, respectively.

Mozart’s The Magic Flute opened Dec. 20 and closed Jan. 5 as the Metropolitan Opera’s English-language holiday presentation. The Met’s abbreviated, all-age friendly adaptation of Mozart’s enchanting opera marked opening night with four debuts. American soprano Jessica Pratt and American mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko debuted, respectively, as the Queen of the Night and as the Second Lady. Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus members Misha Grossman and Dylan Hansen Hamme made opening night debuts as the Second Spirit and the Third Spirit, respectively.

Puccini’s Manon Lescaut opened Nov. 14 and closed Dec. 10. American mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau debuted opening night as the opera’s Solo Madrigalist.

Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) opened Dec. 12 and closed Jan. 7. Sava Vemic debuted opening night as the Egyptian’s High Priest. On Dec. 27, Ukrainian soprano Tatiana Melnychenko debuted as Abigaille.

Verdi’s Rigoletto opened Jan. 20 and closed April 27. Opening night marked debuts by Milanese bass Andrea Mastroni as Sparafucile and Cuban-American baritone Nelson Martinez as Monterone.

Roméo et Juliette by Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893) opened Dec. 31 and closed March 18. Opening night marked Mexican tenor Diego Silva’s debut as Tybalt. On March 3, Irish mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy debuted as Stéphano.

Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák (Sept. 8, 1841-May 1, 1904) opened Feb. 2 and closed March 2. Opening night marked three singers’ debuts: Argentine-American mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as the Kitchen Boy; South Korean soprano Hyesang Park as the First Sprite; American baritone Anthony Clark Evans as the Hunter.

Salome by Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949) opened Dec. 5 and closed Dec. 28. Opening night singing debuts were made by Australian-Chinese tenor Kang Wang as Narraboth and by American bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee as the First Soldier. On Dec. 13, American soprano Kirsten Chambers debuted in the title role as Salome.

Verdi’s La Traviata opened Feb. 24 and closed April 14. American mezzo-soprano Rebecca Jo Loeb debuted opening night as Flora.

Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) opened Sept. 26 and closed Oct. 27. Opening night marked debuts by English tenor Neal Cooper as Melot, American tenor Alex Richardson as the Shepherd and American child actor Jonathan O’Reilly as Young Tristan. On Oct. 13, German bass-baritone Carsten Wittmoser debuted as Kurwenal.

Werther by Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912) opened Feb. 16 and closed March 9. Opening night marked debuts by American mezzo-soprano Sarah Larsen as Käthchen and child singers Louis Bailey, Carolina De Salvo and Henry T. Balaban as Hans, Clara and Max, respectively. On Feb. 23, Veronica Simeoni debuted as Charlotte.

The takeaway for the 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season’s debut of 44 singers, including six child singers, is that the season’s influx of new talents contributes to the vibrancy of the Metropolitan Opera’s cast and repertoire.

Hanna-Elisabeth Müller's Met Opera debut happened March 16, 2017, in the opera house's 231st performance of Beethoven's Fidelio: Manya Zuba @ManyaZuba, via Twitter March 21, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Puccini's La Bohème marked Dmytro Popov's Met Opera debut and Ailyn Pérez's Met Opera role debut as Mimì: Askonas Holt @AskonasHolt, via Twitter Sep. 28, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/AskonasHolt/status/781122923251765248

Hanna-Elisabeth Müller's Met Opera debut happened March 16, 2017, in the opera house's 231st performance of Beethoven's Fidelio: Manya Zuba @ManyaZuba, via Twitter March 20, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/ManyaZuba/status/844031391734124545

For further information:

Askonas Holt @AskonasHolt. “Tonight, Dmytro Popov makes his @MetOpera debut as Rodolfo in La Bohème!” Twitter. Sept. 28, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/AskonasHolt/status/781122923251765248

“Debut: Avery Amereau.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356530 Manon Lescaut {216} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/14/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356530

“Debut: Brigitta Kele.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356532 La Bohème {1296} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/16/20166.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356532

“Debut: Carsten Wittmoser.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356495 > Tristan und Isolde {460} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/13/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356495

“Debut: Dmytro Popov.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356480 La Bohème {1291} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/28/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356480

“Debut: Hanna-Elisabeth Müller.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356661 Fidelio {231} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/16/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356661

“Debut: Karolina Pilou.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356592 L’Amour de Loin {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/09/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356592

“Debut: Kirsten Chambers.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356562 Salome {160} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/13/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356562

“Debut: Rebecca Jo Loeb.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356639 La Traviata {997} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/24/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356639

“Debut: Sava Vemic.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356561 Nabucco {58} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/12/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356561

“Debut: Tatiana Melnychenko.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356576 Nabucco {62} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/27/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356576

“Debut: Veronica Simeoni.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356638 Werther {84} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/23/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356638

“Debuts: Chase Brock, Diego Silva.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356582 Roméo et Juliette {330} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/31/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356582

“Debuts: Clarissa Lyons, Sara Couden.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356512 Jenufa {46} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/28/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356512

“Debuts: Clémentine Margaine, Rafael Davila, Shirin Eskandani.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356599 Carmen {1002} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/19/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356599

“Debuts: Hyesang Park, Anthony Clark Evans, Daniela Mack, Austin McCormick.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356617 Rusalka {28} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/02/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356617

“Debuts: Jessica Pratt, Sarah Mesko, Misha Grossman, Dylan Hansen Hamme.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356569 Die Zauberflöte {426} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/20/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356569

“Debuts: Johannes Debus, Kang Wang, Nicholas Brownlee.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356554 Salome {32} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/05/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356554

“Debuts: Klaus Bertisch, Michele Angelini, Ross Benoliel, Marco Spotti.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356500 Guillaume Tell {32} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/18/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356500

“Debuts: Marianna Pizzolato, René Barbera, Rihab Chaieb.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356485 L’Italiana in Algeri {72} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/04/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356485

“Debuts: Michelle Bradley, Rolando Senz.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356651 Idomeneo {68} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/06/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356651

“Debuts: Neal Cooper, Alex Richardson, Jonathan O’Reilly.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356483 Tristan und Isolde {456} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/26/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356483

“Debuts: Pier Giorgio Morandi, Andrea Mastroni, Nelson Martinez.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356600 Rigoletto {879} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/20/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356600

“Debuts: Sarah Larsen, Louis Bailey, Carolina De Salvo, Henry T. Balaban.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356638 Werther {82} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/16/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356638

Helsinkiphilharmonic @HelsinkiPhil. “Mälkki is one of the brightest lights in the world of classical music: Susanna Malkki on Her Met Opera Debut.” Twitter. Dec. 15, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/HelsinkiPhil/status/809321148282503168

Manya Zuba @ManyaZuba. “.@elportillo and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller -- Jaquino & Marzelline in Fidelio @MetOpera tonight. Lovely performances.” Twitter. March 20, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ManyaZuba/status/844031391734124545

Metropolitan Opera. “L’Amour de Loin: Live in HD Intermission Interview.” YouTube. Dec. 15, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kHlFaxWLM8