2018-2019 Met Opera Season’s Third Week Offers Puccini, Saint-Saëns, Verdi

Summary: The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week offers Puccini, Saint-Saëns and Verdi operas of Aida, La Bohème, La Fanciulla del West and Samson et Dalila.

Met Opera's 2018-2019 season stages the third revival of Giancarlo del Monaco's production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 12, 2018

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week offers Puccini, Saint-Saëns and Verdi operas in continuing performances of Aida, La Bohème, La Fanciulla del West and Samson et Dalila.

October’s second week is the 2018-2019 season’s third week. The week’s schedule offers continuing performances of one opera that debuted a new production and three operas that are revivals.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week opens with the season’s second performance of La Fanciulla del West by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). The Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, performance starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The week’s second performance of La Fanciulla del West, which is the season’s third performance of Puccini's mining-themed opera, is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s premiere of La Fanciulla del West happened Thursday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m. The season premiere revived Giancarlo del Monaco’s production. The Italian stage director’s staging debuted Oct. 10, 1991, as a new production in the Metropolitan Opera’s 76th performance of La Fanciulla del West.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s performances of La Fanciulla del West number as the third revival of Giancarlo del Monaco’s production at the Metropolitan Opera. The first revival took place during the 1992-1993 season. The second revival dates to the 2010-2011 Met Opera season.

La Fanciulla del West also appears as the fourth of the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s Saturday matinee radio broadcasts. The season’s Saturday matinee radio broadcast schedule begins Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, with Mefistofele by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918). Les Pêcheurs de Perles by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875) closes the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s Saturday matinee radio broadcast schedule.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week also continues performances of Samson et Dalila by French Romantic Era composer Camille Saint-Saëns (Oct. 9, 1835-Dec. 16, 1921). The week’s two performances of Samson et Dalila are scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 13, at 1 p.m.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera opened with Samson et Dalila’s season premiere Monday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m. The season premiere debuted the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Saint-Saëns’s Biblical opera. Darko Tresnjak directs the new production.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s new production updates an opera that the opera house has not performed for over 12 years. The 2005-2006 season’s performances of Samson et Dalila revived Elijah Moshinsky’s staging. The Australian opera and theatre director’s new production debuted Feb. 13, 1998, in the Metropolitan Opera’s 177th performance of Samson et Dalila.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week continues performances of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). The week’s two performances of La Bohème are offered Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s performances of Puccini’s Paris-based bohemian opera revive Franco Zeffirelli’s production and set design. The Italian film, opera and television director and producer’s staging debuted Dec. 14, 1981, as a new production in the opera house’s 823rd performance of La Bohème.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week stages one performance of Aida by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). The week’s solitary Aida performance takes place Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s performances revive Sonja Frisell’s staging. The British director’s production debuted Dec. 8, 1988, in the opera house’s 924th performance of Aida.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's offerings during the season's third week have a shared history. Italian operatic tenor Enrico Caruso (Feb. 25, 1873-Aug. 2, 1921) sang lead roles in all four operas during his Metropolitan Opera career. La Fanciulla del West is the only one of the four operas, however, with Caruso's lead role appearance in the Metropolitan Opera's premiere.

The takeaways for the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s third week offerings of Puccini, Saint-Saëns and Verdi are that three operas (Aida, La Bohème, La Fanciulla del West) are performed as revivals and one opera, Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila, debuts a new production.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's performances of Puccini's La Bohème revive Italian film, opera and television director Franco Zeffirelli's staging, which debuted Dec. 14, 1981, at Met Opera: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 1, 2018

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West returns to the Metropolitan Opera as a new production, with only October performances: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook July 12, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10160768910630533

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's performances of Puccini's La Bohème revive Italian film, opera and television director Franco Zeffirelli's staging, which debuted Dec. 14, 1981, at Met Opera: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 1, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160070759380533/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Met Opera Season Opens Sept. 24 With Samson et Dalila.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 17, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-2019-met-opera-season-opens-sept.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Met Opera Season Premiere of La Fanciulla del West Is Thursday, Oct. 4.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 24, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-2019-met-opera-season-premiere-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Presents Four New Productions.” Earth and Space News. Monday, June 25, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/2018-2019-metropolitan-opera-season_25.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera Season Stages 29 Operas.” 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. “Aida Is the April 15, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, April 10, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/04/aida-is-april-15-2017-metropolitan.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “La Bohème Is Feb. 24, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Feb. 19, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/02/la-boheme-is-feb-24-2018-met-opera.html

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Franco Zeffirelli’s picturesque staging, which has appeared 492 times since its 1981 premiere, is the most-performed production in Met history. http://bit.ly/2pGw4yG Photo courtesy of the Met Opera Archives." Facebook. Feb. 1, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160070759380533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “New on iTunes: Puccini’s romantic epic of the Wild West, La Fanciulla del West, springs to life in Giancarlo del Monaco’s dramatic production. . . .” Facebook. April 12, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160410490980533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West made its world premiere on the Metropolitan Opera stage on December 10, 1910 in the presence of the composer. . . .” Facebook. July 12, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10160768910630533

“New Production: Aida.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 294740 New Production Aida {924} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/8/1988.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=294740

“New Production: La Bohème.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 266920 New Production La Bohème {823} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/14/1981.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=266920

“New Production: La Fanciulla del West.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 306170 New Production La Fanciulla del West {76} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/10/1991.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=306170

“New Production: Samson et Dalila.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 330432 New Production Samson et Dalila {177} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/13/1998.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=330432