Met Opera Premieres Verdi Requiem and The Magic Flute Nov. 24 and 25

Summary: Met Opera premieres Verdi Requiem and The Magic Flute Nov. 24 and 25 for Thanksgiving 2017 weekend, which is the 2017-2018 season’s ninth week.

American operatic baritone Nathan Gunn reprises his regular Met Opera holiday role as Papageno for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season's family friendly production of The Magic Flute: The Metropolitan Opera (metopera) via Instagram Nov. 22, 2016

The Met Opera premieres Verdi Requiem and The Magic Flute Nov. 24 and 25, respectively, for Thanksgiving 2017 weekend. The 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s ninth week also includes Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, Massenet’s Thaïs and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera’s season premiere of Messa da Requiem by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) takes place Nov. 24, the Friday after Thanksgiving, at 8 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). Offered as a series of four concerts, Met Opera’s Verdi Requiem is scheduled for four performances for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season.

Including Friday, Nov. 24’s season premiere, the Verdi Requiem is concertized for three dates in November. November’s two additional concerts take place Monday, Nov. 27, at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 7:30 p.m.

A single concert is scheduled for December. The final concert in the series takes place Saturday, Dec. 2, at 1 p.m.

James Levine conducts all four performances. Met Opera’s music director emeritus conducted the opera house’s most recent performance of Verdi’s memorial mass for his friend, Italian dramatist, novelist and poet Alessandro Manzoni (March 7, 1785-May 22, 1873). The Metropolitan Opera’s concert conducted by Maestro Levine on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, was offered in memory of Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti (Oct. 12, 1935-Sept. 6, 2007).

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season also announces the 2017 holiday season with the season premiere of The Magic Flute. Met Opera’s English language, family friendly version of Die Zauberflöte by Classical era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) opens Saturday, Nov. 25, at 2 p.m.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season offers a total of five performances of the abbreviated, 100-minute version. Two performances are scheduled for November and three for December.

In addition to the season premiere, The Magic Flute is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. December’s performances take place Monday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 9, at 12:30 p.m.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season presents Julie Taymor’s production of The Magic Flute. Her staging of the English language version debuted Friday, Dec. 29, 2006, at the Metropolitan Opera. The American film, opera and theater director has credits as director, costume designer and co-puppet designer for The Magic Flute.

David Kneuss appears as revival stage director for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season's production. The opera’s production team comprises George Tsypin, set designer; Donald Holder, lighting designer; Michael Curry, co-puppet designer; Mark Dendy, choreographer. American librettist, literary critic and poet J. D. “Sandy” McClatchy is responsible for the production’s English adaptation of the original German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder (Sept. 1, 1751-Sept. 21, 1812).

In addition to two season premieres, the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s ninth week also offers Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, Massenet’s Thaïs and Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Madama Butterfly by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) starts the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s ninth week. Puccini’s Japan-themed opera is performed Monday, Nov. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

Madama Butterfly’s 2017-2018 season premiere took place Thursday, Nov. 2. Puccini’s tragedy about a young Japanese geisha appears as the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s sixth season premiere. As of Oct. 31, 2016, Madama Butterfly rates as the Metropolitan Opera’s seventh most performed opera.

The Exterminating Angel by British composer, conductor and pianist Thomas Adès is the week’s second opera. Adès’s third opera is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s opening performance of The Exterminating Angel marked the surreal opera’s American premiere. The Exterminating Angel’s Metropolitan Opera premiere took place Thursday, Oct. 26.

Thaïs by French Romantic era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912) is the week’s third opera. Thaïs is scheduled for Nov. 22, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, at 7:30 p.m. The week’s second performance of Massenet’s tribute to an Alexandrian courtesan’s pure heart takes place Saturday, Nov. 25, at 8 p.m.

The 2017-2018 season premiere for Thaïs took place Saturday, Nov. 11. The French language opera appears as the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s seventh season premiere and eighth premiere. As of Oct. 31, 2016, Thaïs is the 74th most performed opera in the Metropolitan Opera’s repertoire.

The takeaways for the 2017-2018 Met Opera premieres of Verdi Requiem and The Magic Flute on Nov. 24 and 25, respectively, are that an opera composer’s compelling requiem mass and a Classical era composer’s comic opera open the year’s holiday season and that the season’s ninth week also includes performances of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, Jules Massenet’s Thaïs and Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.

Prior to the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Music Director Emeritus James Levine's last conductorship of the Verdi Requiem was a Sept. 18, 2008, concert in memory of Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti; the Italian operatic tenor costumed near his home in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, north central Italy, in one of his signature roles, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto: Luciano Pavarotti (lucianopavarotti) via Instagram July 10, 2016

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

American operatic baritone Nathan Gunn reprises his regular Met Opera holiday role as Papageno for the 2017-2018 Met Opera season's family friendly production of The Magic Flute: The Metropolitan Opera (metopera) via Instagram Nov. 22, 2016, @ https://www.instagram.com/p/BNIUDHXhfKZ/

Prior to the 2017-2018 Met Opera season, Music Director Emeritus James Levine's last conductorship of the Verdi Requiem was a Sept. 18, 2008, concert in memory of Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti; the Italian operatic tenor costumed near his home in one of his signature roles, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto: Luciano Pavarotti (lucianopavarotti) via Instagram July 10, 2016, @ https://www.instagram.com/p/BHrl8fCgJxA/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017 Met Opera Premiere of Adès’s The Exterminating Angel Is Oct. 26.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 16, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-met-opera-premiere-of-adess.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of Madama Butterfly Is Nov. 2.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of_23.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2017-2018 Met Opera Season Premiere of Thaïs Is Saturday, Nov. 11.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/10/2017-2018-met-opera-season-premiere-of_30.html

Metropolitan Opera. “Julie Taymor on The Magic Flute.” YouTube. Dec. 14, 2016.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DSmNlCdJeg

Metropolitan Opera. “The Magic Flute TV Spot (Met Opera).” YouTube. Nov. 12, 2010.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDTXVnDe4XQ

The Metropolitan Opera. “On Stage 2017-18.” The Metropolitan Opera > Season.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/

“New Production: Thaïs." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352738 Thaïs {64} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/08/2008.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=266920

“Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database: The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

“Premiere of Abridged Version: Die Zauberflöte {365} Matinee ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 12/29/2006.” MetOpera Database: The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ archives.metoperafamily.org

“Verdi Requiem Mass {49} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/18/2008. MetOpera Database: The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ archives.metoperafamily.org