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

2017-2018 Metropolitan Opera Season Schedules 26 Productions

Summary: The 2017-2018 Metropolitan Opera season schedules 25 productions, with a new production of Norma by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini as opener.

Scottish opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar's new production of Bellini's Norma opens the 2017-2018 Met Opera season: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Feb. 15, 2017

The 2017-2018 Metropolitan Opera season schedules 26 productions and opens the season with a new production of Norma, a two-act tragedia lirica (“lyrical tragedy”) by short-lived Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

The season’s first performance takes place Sept. 25. The 2017-2018 season’s last performance is scheduled for May 12.

Alphabetically, the 26 productions range from Puccini’s La Bohème to Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

La Bohème by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924) offers 15 performances, beginning Oct. 2 and ending March 10. Puccini’s four-act tragedy is sung in Italian. British conductor Alexander Soddy conducts October and November performances. Genoese conductor Marco Armiliato conducts February and March performances.

Seven performances of Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni (Dec. 7, 1863-Aug. 2, 1945) and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (April 23, 1857-Aug. 9, 1919) are given, beginning Jan. 8 and closing Feb. 1. The two tragic operas, known informally as “Cav and Pag” for their frequent staging together, are sung in Italian. Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti conducts all of the double-billed performances.

Cendrillon by Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912) offers eight performances, opening April 12 and closing May 11. Massenet’s four-act fairy tale is sung in French. The new production, which marks the opera's Metropolitan Opera debut, features staging by French opera and theatre director Laurent Pelly. French conductor Bertrand de Billy conducts all eight performances.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach (June 20, 1819-Oct. 5, 1880) runs for nine performances, opening Sept. 26 and closing Oct. 28. The three-act opera fantastique is sung in French. German conductor Johannes Debus conducts all nine performances.

Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791) offers 11 performances, beginning March 15 and closing April 19. The two-act opera buffa (“comic opera”) is sung in Italian. English stage director Phelim McDermott directs the 1950s-style staging of the new production of Mozart’s classic comedy of love's foibles. American conductor David Eric Robertson conducts all 11 performances.

Elektra by Richard Georg Strauss (June 11, 1864-Sept. 8, 1949) runs for six performances, opening March 1 and closing March 23. The one-act tragedy is sung in German. The production revives the 2015-2016 season’s staging legacy of French opera and theatre director Patrice Chéreau (Nov. 2, 1944-Oct. 7, 2013). Chéreau’s last staging premiered at the Aix-en-Provence Festival (Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence) in July 2013. Montrealese conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s music director designate, conducts all six performances.

L’Elisir d’Amore by Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848) offers 10 performances, beginning Jan. 16 and ending Feb. 17. The two-act melodramma giocoso (“comic opera,” “playful melodrama”) is sung in Italian. Venezuelan conductor Domingo Garcia Hindoyan conducts all 10 performances.

The Exterminating Angel by British composer and conductor Thomas Adès runs for eight performances, opening Oct. 26 and closing Nov. 21. The two-act surreal fantasy is based upon El ángel exterminador, a 1962 surrealist film by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel (Feb. 22, 1900-July 29, 1983). Adès’s third opera is sung in English. British director Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the staging of the opera’s American premiere. Thomas Adès conducts all performances.

Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (Sept. 1, 1854-Sept. 27, 1921) offers seven performances, beginning Dec. 18 and ending Jan. 6. Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles conducts all performances of the Met English-language holiday presentation.

Lucia di Lammermoor, the 2017-2018 season’s second opera by Gaetano Donizetti, runs for 12 performances, opening March 22 and closing May 10. The three-act dramma tragico is sung in Italian. Milanese conductor Roberto Abbado conducts all 12 performances.

Luisa Miller by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) offers seven performances, beginning March 29 and ending April 21. The three-act melodramma tragico is sung in Italian. Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts all performances.

Madama Butterfly, one of the 2017-2018 season’s four operas by Giacomo Puccini, runs for 12 performances, opening Nov. 2 and closing March 16. The exotic tragedy is sung in Italian. Italian conductor Jader Bignamini makes his Metropolitan Opera debut by way of conducting the opera’s November performances. Genoese conductor Marco Armiliato conducts February and March performances.

The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart offers five holiday performances, beginning Nov. 25 and ending Dec. 9. Dutch conductor Edo de Waart conducts all performances of the Met’s English-language family version of Mozart’s magical fable.

The Merry Widow by Franz Léhar (April 30, 1870-Oct. 24, 1948) runs for nine performances, opening Dec. 14 and closing Jan. 11. The three-act operetta is sung in English. American conductor Ward Stare conducts all performances.

Norma by short-lived Italian opera composer Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835) offers 12 performances, beginning Sept. 25 and ending Dec. 16. The two-act tragedia lirica (“lyric tragedy”) is sung in Italian. Glaswegian opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar directs the staging of the 2017-2018 season’s new production of Norma. Milanese conductor Carlo Rizzi conducts September and October performances. American conductor Joseph Colaneri conducts the opera’s December performances.

Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart runs for 11 performances, opening Dec. 6 and closing Jan. 19. Mozart’s four-act ebullient comic opera is sung in Italian. British conductor Harry Bicket conducts all performances.

Parsifal by Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883) offers seven performances, beginning Feb. 5 and ending Feb. 27. The three-act dramma musicale, based upon a medieval knight’s legendary quest for the Last Supper’s Holy Grail, is sung in German. Montrealer Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Metropolitan Opera’s music director designate, conducts all performances.

Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi plays for four concerts, opening Nov. 24 and closing Dec. 2. Verdi’s musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass is sung in Italian. Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts all four holiday concerts of Verdi’s Messa da Reqiuem. Concert soloists are Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk, Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko and Italian bass Ferruccio Ferlanetto.

Roméo et Juliette by Charles-François Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893) offers six performances, beginning April 23 and ending May 12. The five-act tragic opera is sung in French. Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo conducts all performances.

Semiramide by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868) plays for eight performances, opening Feb. 19 and closing March 17. The two-act melodramma tragico is sung in Italian. Italian conductor Maurizio Benini conducts all performances.

Thaïs, one of the 2017-2018 season’s two operas by Jules Massenet, offers eight performances, beginning Nov. 11 and ending Dec. 2. The three-act comédie lyrique is sung in French. French conductor Emmanuel Villaume conducts all performances.

Tosca, one of the 2017-2018 season’s four operas by Giacomo Puccini, plays for 15 performances, opening Dec. 31 and closing May 12. The three-act opera lirica is sung in Italian. The opera’s new production represents one of the season’s two new stagings by Glaswegian opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar. Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons, whose wife, Latvian operatic soprano Kristine Opolais, shares the production’s title role with Russian operatic soprano Anna Netrebko, conducts the December performance and seven of January’s eight performances. He shares the baton with British conductor Gareth Morrell, who conducts the Jan. 18 performance. French conductor Bertrand de Billy conducts the opera’s April and May performances.

Il Trovatore, one of the 2017-2018 season’s two operas by Giuseppe Verdi, offers eight performances, beginning Jan. 22 and ending Feb. 15. The four-act tragedy is sung in Italian. Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts all performances.

Turandot, one of the season’s four operas by Giacomo Puccini, plays for 15 performances, opening Oct. 12 and closing April 5. Puccini’s final opera is sung in Italian. Milanese conductor Carlo Rizzi conducts the opera’s October and November performances. Genoese conductor Marco Armiliato conducts Turandot’s March and April performances.

Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, offers five performances, beginning Sept. 27 and ending Oct. 14. Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts all performances of the 2017-2018 season’s full-length German-language version of Mozart’s enchanting fable.

The takeaway for the 2017-2018 Metropolitan Opera season schedule of 26 productions is that five new productions include the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel and also revitalize Bellini’s Norma, Massenet’s Cendrillon, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and Puccini’s Tosca.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro takes place early in the holiday month of December: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 15, 2017

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Scottish opera and theatre director Sir David McVicar's new production of Bellini's Norma opens the 2017-2018 Met Opera season: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Feb. 15, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/832004752984641536

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season premiere of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro takes place early in the holiday month of December: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Feb. 15, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158357868585533.1073741928.20807115532/10158357950295533/

For further information:

Cooper, Michael. “Highlights From the Met Opera’s 2017-18 Season.” The New York Times > Music. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-2017-2018-season-highlights.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur

Fredonia Opera House. "Live at the Met's Tosca." YouTube. June 20, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSRHVzW_I2w

Marriner, Derdriu. "2017-2018 Metropolitan Opera Season Includes a Premiere and a Requiem." Earth and Space News. Monday, June 12, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/06/2017-2018-metropolitan-opera-season_12.html

Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera. "Metropolitan Opera 2017-18 New Season. Five new productions. Opens with Bellini's Norma starring Sondra Radvanovsky." Twitter. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/832004752984641536

Metropolitan Opera. "Joyce DiDonato and the Met's New Production of Cendrillon." YouTube. June 13, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs1IfgUUnOs

Metropolitan Opera. "Phelim McDermott on his new Production of Così fan tutte." YouTube. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbdM6sOijKE

Metropolitan Opera. "Sir David McVicar on his new Production of Tosca." YouTube. July 10, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwsPiDilfng

Metropolitan Opera. "Sondra Radvanovsky and Sir David McVicar on the Met's new Production of Norma." YouTube. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCAo2rIf3nc

Metropolitan Opera. "Thomas Adès and Tom Cairns on The Exterminating Angel." YouTube. June 5, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ7-PanwJCI&t=1s

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro December 6 –January 19." Facebook. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158357868585533.1073741928.20807115532/10158357950295533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Today is the day! Stay tuned for the 2017-18 Season Announcement at 12 noon ET!” Twitter. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/831881133025591296

"Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 Season Will Feature 220 Performances of 26 Works, With Five New Productions, Including Two Met Premieres." The Metropolitan Opera > About > Press Releases. Feb. 17, 2017.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/About/Press-Releases/2017-18Season/

New York Times Arts @nytimesarts. “Next season at the @MetOpera: a new ‘Tosca,’ a Thomas Adès premiere and Mozart on Coney Island.” Twitter. Feb. 15, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/nytimesarts/status/831913227776884737

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

Ross, Alex. “An Explosive Opera of ‘The Exterminating Angel.’” The New Yorker > Musical Events. Aug. 22, 2016.
Available @ http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/thomas-ades-the-exterminating-angel

Royal College Music @RCMLondon. "#RCMOpera alumna Sophie Bevan will be making her @MetOpera debut this year in @Thomas_adès' The Exterminating Angel." Twitter. Feb. 17, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/RCMLondon/status/832615321450250240