Three of Seven 2022-2023 Met Opera Season New Productions Are Premieres

Summary: Three of seven 2022-2023 Met Opera season new productions are premieres, of which Medea and The Hours add new composers to the company's repertoire.

The Hours by American composer Kevin Puts receives its Metropolitan Opera premiere Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at 8:00 p.m. and opens the 2022-2023 Saturday matinee opera broadcast season Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1:00 p.m.: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Sep. 1, 2022

Three of seven 2022-2023 Met Opera season new productions are premieres, of which Luigi Cherubini's Medea and Kevin Puts' The Hours add new composers to the opera company's repertoire.

The 2022-2023 Metropolitan Opera season's Saturday matinee lineup of 23 operas and one previous season's Saturday matinee broadcast features seven new productions. Three of the productions are staged as Metropolitan Opera premieres: The Hours by Kevin Puts; Medea by Luigi Cherubini; Champion by Terence Blanchard.

The 2022-2023 season's schedule of Saturday matinee broadcasts opens Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1:00 p.m. with The Hours by Kevin Matthew Puts (born Jan. 3, 1972), an American composer on the Composition Faculty at Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Institute. The Hours receives its Metropolitan Opera premiere Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at 8:00 p.m.

The premiere production of The Hours is directed by Phelim McDermott. The English stage director had made his Met Opera debut Friday, April 11, 2008, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Satyagraha by American composer Philip Glass (born Jan. 31, 1937).

Phelim McDermott's production team includes Tom Pye, set and costumer designer; Bruno Poet, lighting designer; and Finn Ross, production designer. British designer Tom Pye and Scottish designer Finn Ross had made their Met Opera debuts Monday, Sep. 23, 2013, in the opera company's 136th performance of Eugene Onegin by Russian late Romantic era composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893). English designer Bruno Poet had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, in the opera company's Metropolitan Opera Premiere of Glass's Akhnaten.

The production's choreographer is Annie-B Parson. Paul Cremo is the team's dramaturg. The American dramaturg's first dramaturgy for Met Opera occurred Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, in the opera company's United States Premiere of Marnie by American contemporary classical music composer Nico Muhly (born Aug. 26, 1981).

Medea by Italian Classical and Romantic composer Luigi Cherubini (Sep. 14, 1760-March 15, 1842) queues as the 2022-2023 season's fourth Saturday matinee broadcast. Medea airs on 2023's first Saturday, Jan. 7, at 1:00 p.m. The Greek-themed tragedy received its Metropolitan Opera premiere on the 2022-2023 season's opening night, Tuesday, Sep. 27, 2022, at 6:00 p.m.

The premiere production of Medea is directed by Sir David McVicar, who also is Medea's set designer. The Scottish opera and theatre director had made his Met Opera debut Monday, Feb. 16, 2009, in the opera house's 600th performance of Il Trovatore by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Sir David's production team includes Doey Lüthi, costume designer; Paule Constable, lighting designer; and S. Katy Tucker, projection designer. Swiss-born designer Doey Lüthi made her Met Opera debut in Medea's Metropolitan Opera premiere Tuesday, Sep. 27, 2022. British designer Paule Constable had made her Met Opera debut Friday, April 11, 2008, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Glass's Satyagraha. American designer S. Katy Tucker had made her Met Opera debut Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014, in the opera company's 11th performance of Prince Igor by Georgian-Russian Romantic composer Alexander Borodin (Nov. 12, 1833-Feb. 27, 1887).

Jo Meredith is Medea's movement director. Medea's Metropolitan Opera premiere marked the British choreographer and movement director's Met Opera debut.

Champion by American jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) airs Saturday, May 27, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. as the 2022-2023 season's 22nd Saturday matinee broadcast. The boxing-themed opera received its Metropolitan Opera premiere Monday, April 10, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. The Metropolitan Opera had added Blanchard as a new composer in the 2021-2022 season's Metropolitan Opera premiere of Fire Shut Up In My Bones Saturday, Sep. 27, 2021, at 6:30 p.m.

The premiere production's director and choreographer are James Robinson and Camille A. Brown, respectively. The American stage director and the American choreographer had made their Met Opera debuts Monday, Sep. 23, 2019, in the opera company's 55th performance of Porgy and Bess by American composer and pianist George Gershwin (Sept. 26, 1898-July 11, 1937).

Champion's production team comprises Allen Moyer, set designer; Montana Levi Blanco, costume designer; Donald Holder, lighting designer; and Greg Emetaz, projection designer. American designer Allen Moyer made his Met Opera debut Wednesday, May 2, 2007, in the opera company's 83rd performance of Orfeo ed Euridice by German classical composer Christoph von Gluck (July 2, 1714-Nov. 15, 1787). American designer Montana Levi Blanco's Met Opera debut occurred in Champion's Metropolitan Opera premiere Monday, April 10, 2023. American designer Donald Holder had made his Met Opera debut Friday, Oct. 8, 2004, in the opera company's 343rd performance of The Magic Flute / Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). American designer Greg Emetaz made his Met Opera debut Saturday, Sep. 27, 2021, in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Blanchard's Fire Shut Up In My Bones.

The takeaways for three of the seven 2022-2023 Met Opera season's new productions as premieres are that The Hours and Medea add a 21st-century composer, Kevin Puts, and a late-18th to early-19th-century composer, Luigi Cherubini, respectively, to the opera company's repertoire and that two works by Terence Blanchard, Fire Shut Up In My Bones (2021-2022) and Champion (2022-2023), have been added to Met Opera's repertoire in successive seasons.

Medea by Italian composer Luigi Cherubini opened the 2022-2023 Met Opera season Tuesday, Sep. 27, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. as the first of the season's three premieres and airs Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. as the season's fourth Saturday matinee opera broadcast; Sir David McVicar, director and sets; Doey Lüthi, costumes; Paule Constable, lighting: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Oct. 27, 2022

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

The Hours by American composer Kevin Puts receives its Metropolitan Opera premiere Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at 8:00 p.m. and opens the 2022-2023 Saturday matinee opera broadcast season Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1:00 p.m.: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Sep. 1, 2022, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/620290559465717/

Medea by Italian composer Luigi Cherubini opened the 2022-2023 Met Opera season Tuesday, Sep. 27, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. as the first of the season's three premieres and airs Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. as the season's fourth Saturday matinee opera broadcast; Sir David McVicar, director and sets; Doey Lüthi, costumes; Paule Constable, lighting: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Oct. 27, 2022, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/pfbid02X8XLJ1wsXTJX4Vttidfq5YHZL269xobpaEThWiq8cH9jDjMkFuUE7TmCpFam2RRLl

For further information:

Clark, Peter. "Cherubini’s Medea at the Met." Met Opera > Discover > Archives.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/discover/archives/notes-from-the-archives/medea-at-the-met/

"Debuts: Dmitri Tcherniakov, Elena Zaitseva, Itzik Galili, S. Katy Tucker, Sergey Semishkur, Oksana Dyka, Kiri Deonarine, Mikhail Vekua." [Met Performance] CID: 355301 New Production Prince Igor {11} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/06/2014.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355301

"Debuts: Doey Lüthi, Jo Meredith." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 3576958 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Medea {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2022.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=3576958

"Debuts: David McVicar, Charles Edwards, Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leah Hausman." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353605 New Production Il Trovatore {600} Metropolitan Opera House: 02/16/2009.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353605

"Debuts: Deborah Warner, Fiona Shaw, Tom Pye, Chloe Obolensky, Ian William Galloway, Finn Ross." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355023 New Production Eugene Onegin {136} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/23/2013.Metropolitan Opera Radio Sirius XM channel 74 Broadcast live Streamed at metopera.org Plazacast/Times Squarecast. Opening Night {129} Peter Gelb, General Manager.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355023

"Debuts: James Robinson, Camille A. Brown, Frederick Ballentine, Chauncey Packer, Reginald Smith, Jr., Jamez McCorkle, Grant Neale, Bobby Mittelstadt, Damien Geter, Chanáe Curtis, David Leong, Arthur Woodley, Michael Lewis, Neo Randall, Jonathan Tuzo." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357253 New Production Porgy and Bess {55} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/23/2019.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357253

"Debuts: Karen Kamensek, Zachary James, J'Nai Bridges, Lindsey Ohse, Chrystal E. Williams, Annie Rosen, Suzanne Hendrix, Oscar Rempe-Hiam, Bruno Poet, Sean Gandini." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357309 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Akhnaten {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/08/2019.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357309

"Debuts: L'ubica Vargicová, Volker Vogel, Kwangchul Youn, Anna Christy, Aiden Bowman, Jason Goldberg, Lev Pakman, Julia Welsh, Julie Taymor, Donald Holder, Michael Curry, Mark Dendy.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351036 New Production Die Zauberflöte {343} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/08/2004.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351036

"Debuts: Mark Morris, Allen Moyer, Isaac Mizrahi." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352019 New Production Orfeo ed Euridice {83} Metropolitan Opera House: 05/02/2007.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352019

"Debuts: Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch, Kevin Pollard, Paule Constable, Leo Warner, Mark Grimmer, 59 Productions, Dante Anzolini, Ellie Dehn, Skills Ensemble." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352481 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Satyagraha {1} Broadcast ed. Metropolitan Opera House: 04/11/2008.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352481

"Debuts: Walter Russell III, Terrence Chin-Loy, Briana Hunter, Cierra Byrd, Chris Kenney, Calvin Griffin, Greg Emetaz, Brittany Renee." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357471 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Fire Shut Up In My Bones {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2021.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357471>

"Dramaturg Paul Cremo." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357028 United States Premiere Marnie {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 10/19/2018.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357028

The Metropolitan Opera. "The Metropolitan Opera is at The Metropolitan Opera. Join us tomorrow, October 28, for the final performance of Cherubini’s Medea! Experience the mythic power of soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role, alongside soprano Janai Brugger, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and bass Michele Pertusi. You won’t want to miss David McVicar’s thrilling new production! Maestro Carlo Rizzi conducts. Learn more: bit.ly/3b7jvVO Photo by Marty Sohl / Met Opera." Facebook. Oct. 27, 2022.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/pfbid02X8XLJ1wsXTJX4Vttidfq5YHZL269xobpaEThWiq8cH9jDjMkFuUE7TmCpFam2RRLl

The Metropolitan Opera. "This week on the main stage: Set pieces, projections, and lighting are all brought to life in technical rehearsals for a brand-new production, The Hours. Director Phelim McDermott, set and costume designer Tom Pye, lighting designer Bruno Poet, and projection designer Finn Ross are all working together to create the complete design package for this compelling new drama. Be there November 22nd to experience the world-premiere production of a powerful new work by Kevin Puts and librettist Greg Pierce. Learn more: bit.ly/3xR9cxY. Photos by Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera." Facebook. Sep. 1, 2022.
Available via Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/620290559465717/

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere Fire Shut Up In My Bones {1}." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357471 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Fire Shut Up In My Bones {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2021. Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast/Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park. (Opening Night {136} Peter Gelb General Manager. Debuts: Walter Russell III, Terrence Chin-Loy, Briana Hunter, Cierra Byrd, Chris Kenney, Calvin Griffin, Greg Emetaz, Brittany Renee. Metropolitan Opera House. September 27, 2021.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=357471

"Metropolitan Opera Premiere Medea {1}." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 357695 Metropolitan Opera Premiere Medea {1} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/27/2022. Broadcast/Streamed/Times Squarecast. (Opening Night {137} Peter Gelb General Manager. Debuts: Doey Lüthi, Jo Meredith. Metropolitan Opera House September 27, 2022.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=3576958