2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera Season Debuted Four Conductors

Summary: The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season debuted four conductors, comprising one female and three males, for four of the season’s 26 productions.

photo of Susanna Mälkki by Rex Features, via Associated Press: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Oct. 18, 2016

The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season debuted three conductors for three of the season’s 26 operas and marked the milestone debut of the Metropolitan Opera’s fourth female conductor.

L’Amour de Loin, by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, marked its Metropolitan Opera premiere during the 2016-2017 season. The production’s eight performances began Dec. 1 and closed Dec. 29. Susanna Mälkki, who has served as Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra since autumn 2016, debuted on opening night as the production’s conductor. The Finnish conductor’s appearance on the podium brings to four the number of debuts by female conductors at the Metropolitan Opera.

Sarah Caldwell debuted as the Metropolitan Opera’s first female conductor during the 1975-1976 season. The American conductor’s debut happened Jan. 13, 1976, for the season’s production of La Traviata by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). Sarah Caldwell returned to the conductor’s podium for the Met’s 1977-1978 season. She conducted all five of the season’s performances of L’Elisir d’Amore by Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Simone Margaret Young claimed status during the 1995-1996 season as the Met’s second female conductor. The Australian conductor debuted April 10, 1996, for the season’s production of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

During the 2013-2014 season, Jane Glover debuted as the Met’s third female conductor. The British conductor’s debut on the podium occurred Dec. 16, 2013, for the Met’s English-language, holiday presentation of The Magic Flute by German Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). Jane Glover dedicated her appearances on the conductor’s podium to Dr. Agnes Varis (Jan. 11, 1930-July 29, 2011) in appreciation of the philanthropist’s championing of female conductors.

The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season’s production of Salome by Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949) occasioned the season’s second conducting debut. Dec. 5 was opening night for Salome’s six performances. Opening night marked Johannes Debus’s debut on the Met’s podium. Salome closed Dec. 28. The German conductor has been the Canadian Opera Company’s music director since 2009.

Verdi’s Rigoletto welcomed the 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season’s third conducting debut.  Rigoletto’s performances ran from Jan. 20 through April 27. Opening night marked the debut of Pier Giorgio Morandi on the conductor’s podium. Since 1990, the Italian conductor has appeared as guest conductor in major opera houses in the Americas, Asia and Europe. A 10-year career as principal oboist in Milan’s Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala preceded Pier Giorgio Morandi’s switch to conducting.

The 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season's production of Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893) marked the season's fourth conducting debut. Met Opera offered seven performances of the Russian composer's opera, opening March 30 and closing April 22. American conductor Joel Revzen led two performances, on April 15 and 18. He substituted for British conductor Robin Ticciati, who was ill.

The 2016-2017 season’s milestone debut of Susanna Mälkki as the Metropolitan Opera’s fourth female conductor occurred during the benchmark premiere of L’Amour de Loin as the opera company’s second, female-composed opera. The Metropolitan Opera’s first staging of an opera by a female composer took place March 12, 1903, with the North American premiere of Der Wald (“The Forest”) by English composer Ethel Mary Smyth (April 23, 1858-May 8, 1944).

The takeaway for the 2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera season’s debut of four conductors is the welcome appearances of German conductor Johannes Debus, Italian conductor Pier Giorgio Morandi and American conductor Joel Revzen as well as the milestone achieved by the Met’s fourth female conductor, Susanna Mälkki, during the opera company’s premiere of L’Amour de Loin by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho.

Finnish composer Susanna Mälkki's debut as the Metropolitan Opera's fourth female conductor takes place in the premiere of the opera house's second female-composed opera, L'Amour de Loin by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 17, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

photo of Susanna Mälkki by Rex Features, via Associated Press: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Oct. 18, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10157717705630533

Finnish composer Susanna Mälkki's debut as the Metropolitan Opera's fourth female conductor takes place in the premiere of the opera house's second female-composed opera, L'Amour de Loin by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 17, 2016, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10156647457545533/10156647458075533/

For further information:

"Debut: Joel Revzen." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356693 Eugene Onegin {153} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/15/2017.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356693

“Debut: Sarah Caldwell.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 243930 La Traviata {622} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/13/1976.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=243930

“Debuts: Jane Glover, Andre Gulick, Julius Ahn.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355192 Die Zauberflöte {409} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/16/2013.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355192

“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: 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: Roberto Alagna, William Shimell, Simone Young.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 323890 La Bohème {1031} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/10/1996.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=323890

“Debuts: Susanna Mälkki, Sybille Wilson.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356550 L’Amour de Loin {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/01/2016.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356550

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Available @ https://twitter.com/HelsinkiPhil/status/809321148282503168

Littler, William. “Johannes Debus Makes his New York Debut With Strauss’s Salome.” The Star > Entertainment > Music. Jan. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2017/01/28/maestro-johannes-debus-makes-his-debut-with-strausss-salome.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/2016-2017-metropolitan-opera-saturday.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2016-2017 Metropolitan Opera Season Debuted 44 Singers.” Earth and Space News. Monday, May 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/2016-2017-metropolitan-opera-season.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "L'Amour de Loin Is the Dec. 10, 2016, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 5, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/lamour-de-loin-is-dec-10-2016.html

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Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kHlFaxWLM8

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Congratulations to Susanna Mälkki, who was just named Musical America Worldwide's conductor of the year! Mälkki is currently chief conductor of the Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri HKO and she will make her Met Opera debut this Dec conducting Kaija Saariaho's L'Amour de loin." Facebook. Oct. 18, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10157717705630533

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s breakthrough opera will now finally have its Metropolitan Opera premiere in a dazzling new production by Robert Lepage, featuring glimmering ribbons of LED lights that extend across the length of the stage and over the orchestra pit. Eric Owens is the knight on a quest of love and Susanna Phillips, Soprano is his lover on the other side of the sea. Conductor Susanna Mälkki makes her Met debut." Facebook. Feb. 17, 2016.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10156647457545533/10156647458075533/

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Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdn5QawtZL0

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