Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conducts Three 2018-2019 Met Opera Season Operas

Summary: Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts three 2018-2019 Met Opera season operas in his new role as the Metropolitan Opera’s third Music Director.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin's official title is the Metropolitan Opera's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 15, 2018

Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts three 2018-2019 Met Opera season operas in his new role as the Metropolitan Opera’s third Music Director, officially titled the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director in recognition of a $15 million from the Neubauer Family Foundation specifically honoring the new director.

The three 2018-2019 Met Opera season operas under Maestro Nézet-Séguin’s conductorship are La Traviata, Pelléas et Mélisande and Dialogues des Carmélites. The trio comprises a new production and two revivals.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s first opera as Metropolitan Opera’s new Music Director is La Traviata by 19th century opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). The three-act opera opens Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Maestro Nézet-Séguin conducts all of December’s eight performances.

La Traviata’s opening night in December not only debuts Yannick Nézet-Séguin in his first official conductorship at the Metropolitan Opera but also debuts a new production of Verdi’s bittersweet, perennially popular opera. The 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera season’s new staging occurs under the direction of American film and stage director Michael Mayer.

An additional seven performances are slated for Friday, April 5, through Saturday, April 27, 2019. The April performances are under the conductorship of Nicola Luisotti.

Nézet-Séguin’s second official opera as Music Director is Pelléas et Mélisande by French Impressionist music composer Achille-Claude Debussy (Aug. 22, 1862-March 25, 1918). The three-act opera opens Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Maestro Nézet-Séguin conducts four of the season’s five performances. In addition to opening night, he also conducts Saturday, Jan. 19; Tuesday, Jan. 22; Friday, Jan. 25. The closing night Thursday, Jan. 31, conductor is to be announced.

Pelléas et Mélisande is performed as a revival production. The Metropolitan Opera’s most recent performance of the French-language opera was during the 2010-2011 season. The original staging traces back to March 23, 1995, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 91st performance of Claude Debussy’s only completed opera. English theatre and opera director (now Sir) Jonathan Miller directed the 1994-1995 Met Opera season’s new staging.

Nézet-Séguin’s third official opera as Music Director is Dialogues des Carmélites by French composer and pianist Francis Poulenc (Jan. 7, 1899-Jan. 30, 1963). Maestro Nézet-Séguin conducts all three of the season’s performances. The French-language opera opens Friday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. A second performance is offered Wednesday, May 8. Dialogues des Carmélites closes with the Saturday, May 11, performance at 12 p.m. EDT.

The Metropolitan Opera most recently performed Dialogues des Carmélites during the 2012-2013 season. The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s production revives staging that debuted Feb. 5, 1977, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Poulenc’s opera about faith and martyrdom. English theatre, opera and film director John Dexter (Aug. 2, 1925-March 23, 1990) directed the premiere’s staging.

The Metropolitan Opera has succeeded in accelerating Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s arrival as the opera house’s third Music Director by two seasons. His assumption of the pivotal role originally was scheduled for the 2020-2021 Met Opera season. Now Maestro Nézet-Séguin’s start date is autumn 2018.

Nézet-Séguin’s accelerated appointment allows for increasing his conductorship from two to three operas per season. Beginning with the 2020-2021 Met Opera season, Maestro Nézet-Séguin will lead a minimum of five operas per season.

“it is wonderful for the entire company that Yannick will assume his duties two seasons ahead of schedule,” General Manager Peter Gelb states in the Metropolitan Opera’s Feb. 15, 2018, press release.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s title of the Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director represents the first instance of the position’s named appointment. The named position ensues from the Neubauer Family Foundation’s gift of $15 million specifically honoring Nézet-Séguin’s appointment.

Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer has served on the Metropolitan Opera’s Board since 1999. Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and her husband, Joseph Neubauer, founded the Neubauer Family Foundation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May 1999.

“I have worked with the Neubauers for many years in Philadelphia and know how committed they are to supporting the arts,” Yannick Nézet-Séguin shares in the Metropolitan Opera’s Feb. 15, 2018, press release.

The takeaway for Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s conducting three 2018-2019 Met Opera season operas is that his accelerated arrival as the Metropolitan Opera’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, effective autumn 2018, allows for his leading of one new production and two revivals in the 2018-2019 season.

Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites is rostered for Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin's third conductorship during the 2018-2019 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 19, 2018

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Yannick Nézet-Séguin's official title is the Metropolitan Opera's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 15, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160140682740533/

Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites is rostered for Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin's third conductorship during the 2018-2019 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 19, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160146382220533/

For further information:

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Available @ https://twitter.com/ArtsJournalNews/status/964223287864766464

La Cieca (James Jorden). “The Advent of the Nézet-Séguin Era: Announcing the Metropolitan Opera’s 2018-2019 Season.” Parterre Box. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ http://parterre.com/2018/02/15/the-metropolitan-operas-2018-2019-season/

Cooper, Michael. “Yannick Nézet-Séguin Will Lead the Met Opera, Two Years Early.” The New York Times > Arts > Music. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-season-dudamel-kaufmann-netrebko-yannick.html?

Marriner, Derdriu. "2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Presents Four New Productions." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 18, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/2018-2019-metropolitan-opera-season.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Stages 29 Operas.” Earth and Space News. Monday, June 11, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/ailyn-perez-sang-three-2017-2018-met.html

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Available @ https://www.metopera.org/About/Press-Releases/YannickNezet-Seguin/

The Metropolitan Opera. “Yannick Nézet-Séguin to Become Met Music Director in September 2018, Two Seasons Earlier Than Originally Planned.” The Metropolitan Opera > About > Press Releases > 18-19 Season Announcements. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/About/Press-Releases/1819SeasonAnnouncement/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads the classic John Dexter production of Poulenc’s devastating story of faith and martyrdom.” Facebook. Feb. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160146382220533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “We are excited to announce that Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Met have accelerated the timeline . . .” Facebook. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160140682740533/

“Metropolitan Opera Premiere Dialogues des Carmélites.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 248220 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Dialogues des Carmélites {1} Matinee Broadcast ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 02/5/1977.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=248220

“New Production Pelléas et Mélisande.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 319780 New production Pelléas et Mélisande {91} Metropolitan Opera House: 03/23/1995.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=319780

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Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353718

Plotkin, Fred. “An Analysis of the Metropolitan Opera’s New Season.” WQXR > Blogs > Operavore. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://www.wqxr.org/story/analysis-metropolitan-opera-2018-2019-season/