The Metropolitan Opera Performs 18 Operas in the 2023-2024 Season

Summary: The Metropolitan Opera performs 18 operas in the 2023-2024 season, beginning Sep. 26 with the opera company's premiere of Heggie's Dead Man Walking.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of American composer Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking Tuesday, Sep. 26, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ushers in the opera company's 2023-2024 season; Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 14:50, image of Jake Heggie: Jtg3188, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

The Metropolitan Opera's 2023-2024 season features 18 operas, with the opera company's premiere of Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie as season opener Tuesday, Sep. 26, 2023, and Orfeo ed Euridice by Christoph Gluck as season closer, Saturday, June 8, 2024.

The 2023-2024 Met Opera season's lineup of 18 operas opens Tuesday, Sep. 26, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time with the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Dead Man Walking by American composer Jake Heggie (born March 31, 1961). Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts seven of the opera's performances, including opening night and closing night, Saturday, Oct. 21. He shares the conductorship with American classical music conductor Steven Osgood. The Met Opera premiere of Dead Man Walking numbers as the opera company's second premiere of an opera by Belgian theater director Ivo van Hove.

Nabucco by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) numbers as the 2023-2024 season's second opera. Verdi's ancient Babylon-themed opera opens Thursday, Sep. 28, 2023, and closes Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. Milanese maestro Daniele Callegari conducts all 14 performances of the production debuted by Australian opera director Elijah Moshinsky in the 2000-2001 season.

The season's third opera, La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924), opens Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, and closes Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Milanese maestro Carlo Rizzi conducts the first 15 of the opera's 18 performances. He shares the conductorship with Genoese maestro Marco Armiliato, who conducts the last three performances of the production debuted by Tuscan film, opera and television director and producer Franco Zeffirelli in the 1981-1982 season.

As the season's fourth opera, Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera opens Friday, Oct. 20, and closes Saturday, Nov. 18. Carlo Rizzi's conducts all nine performances of the production debuted in the 2012-2013 season by American stage director David Alden.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by American composer and pianist Anthony Davis (born Feb. 20, 1951), takes place Friday, Nov. 3. The season's fifth opera closes Saturday, Dec. 2. American maestro Kazem Abdullah conducts all eight performances of American director and playwright Robert O'Hara's production.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catán (April 3, 1949-April 9, 2011) is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 16. The season's sixth opera closes Thursday, Dec. 14. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts all eight performances of American opera and theater director and playwright Mary Zimmerman's production.

The season's seventh opera, Tannhäuser by 19th-century German composer and librettist Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883), runs from Thursday, Nov. 30, to Saturday, Dec. 23. Scottish maestro Donald Runnicles conducts all eight performances of the production debuted in the 1977-1978 season by Austrian opera and theater director Otto Schenk.

The Magic Flute, Met Opera's family-friendly, English language holiday presentation of Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791), opens Friday, Dec. 8. The season's eighth opera closes Saturday, Dec. 30. Swiss maestro Patrick Furrer conducts nine of the opera's 13 performances. He shares the conductorship with British maestro Gareth Morrell, who conducts four performances of the production debuted in the 2004-2005 season by American stage and film director, costume designer and playwright Julie Taymor.

Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875) opens Sunday, Dec. 31, as a new production by English director Carrie Cracknell. The season's ninth opera closes Saturday, May 25. Milanese maestro Daniele Rustioni conducts the first nine of the opera's 17 performances. Venezuelan maestro Diego Matheuz conducts the last eight performances.

Verdi's La Forza del Destino opens Monday, Feb. 26, as a new production by Polish opera, theater and film director Mariusz Treliński. The season's 10th opera closes Friday, March 29. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts all nine performances.

Puccini's Madama Butterfly runs from Thursday, Jan. 11, to Saturday, May 11. Chinese-American maestro Xian Zhang conducts 15 of the 11th opera's 16 performances. She shares the conductorship with Canadian-born maestro Derrick Inouye, who conducts one performance of the production debuted in the 2006-2007 season by British film director, playwright and screenwriter Anthony Minghella.

As the season's 12th opera, Puccini's Turandot opens Wednesday, Feb. 28, and closes Friday, June 7. Ukrainian maestro Oksana Lyniv conducts the first 13 performances of the production debuted by Franco Zeffirelli in the 1986-1987 season. Marco Armiliato conducts the last four performances.

The season's 13th opera, Roméo et Juliette by French composer Charles Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893), opens Thursday, March 7, and closes Saturday, March 30. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts all seven performances of the production debuted in the 2016-2017 season by American theater director Bartlett Sher.

Puccini's La Rondine opens as the season's 14th opera Tuesday, March 26, and closes Saturday, April 20. Roman conductor and pianist Speranza Scappucci conducts all eight performances of production debuted by French opera director Nicolas Joël in the 2008-2009 season.

The season's 15th opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones by American jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard (born March 13, 1962), opens Monday, April 8, and closes Thursday, May 2. Durham, North Carolina-born maestro of American and German dual citizenship Evan Rogister conducts all seven performances of the production debuted in the 2021-2022 season by American stage director James Robinson and American choreographer, dancer and director Camille A. Brown.

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of El Niño by American composer John Adams (born Feb. 15, 1947) opens Tuesday, April 23. The season's 16th opera closes Friday, May 17. American-born Austrian maestro Marin Alsop conducts all seven performances of American director Lileana Blain-Cruz's new production.

The Hours by American composer Kevin Puts (born Jan. 3, 1972) opens Sunday, May 5, and closes Friday, May 31, as the season's 17th opera. Japanese conductor and violinist Kensho Watanabe conducts all eight performances of the production debuted by English stage director Phelim McDermott in the 2022-2023 season.

The season's 18th opera, Orfeo ed Euridice by German classical composer Christoph von Gluck (July 2, 1714-Nov. 15, 1787), opens Thursday, May 16, and closes Saturday, June 8. British conductor, harpsichordist and baroque music specialist Christian Curnyn conducts all eight performances of the production that debuted in the 2006-2007 season by American director, choreographer and dancer Mark Morris.

The eighth performance of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, beginning Saturday, June 8, at 1:00 p.m., closes the Metropolitan Opera's 2023-2024 season.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2023-2024 season closes with the Saturday, June 8, 2023, performance of Orfeo ed Euridice; 1775 oil on canvas portrait of Christoph von Gluck with clavichord by French painter Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (Sep. 22, 1725-April 1, 1802), Kunsthistorisches Museum ("Museum of Art History"), Vienna Ring Road, Vienna, eastern Austria: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

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

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

The Metropolitan Opera premiere of American composer Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking Tuesday, Sep. 26, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ushers in the opera company's 2023-2024 season; Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 14:50, image of Jake Heggie: Jtg3188, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jake_Heggie_2015_low_res.jpg

The Metropolitan Opera's 2023-2024 season closes with the Saturday, June 8, 2023, performance of Orfeo ed Euridice; 1775 oil on canvas portrait of Christoph von Gluck with clavichord by French painter Joseph-Siffred Duplessis (Sep. 22, 1725-April 1, 1802), Kunsthistorisches Museum ("Museum of Art History"), Vienna Ring Road, Vienna, eastern Austria: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Siffred_Duplessis_-_Christoph_Willibald_Gluck_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "Carmen Was Franco Zeffirelli’s 10th Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 24, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/carmen-was-franco-zeffirellis-10th-met.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Fire Shut Up In My Bones Is Jan. 8, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and Space News. Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/01/fire-shut-up-in-my-bones-is-jan-8-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "The Hours by Kevin Puts Is Dec. 10, 2022, Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-hours-by-kevin-puts-is-dec-10-2022.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "The Hours in 2022-2023 Was Fifth Phelim McDermott Staging at Met Opera." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 19, 2023.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-hours-in-2022-2023-was-fifth-phelim.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "La Bohème Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Fifth Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 20, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/07/la-boheme-was-franco-zeffirellis-fifth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Turandot Was Franco Zeffirelli’s Seventh Met Opera Production." Earth and Space News. Monday, Aug. 3, 2020.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2020/08/turandot-was-franco-zeffirellis-seventh.html