Met 2012-2013 Season

[Len_Z]

The Met 2012-2013 Season with full castings has been leaked to the internet and what a disappointment it turns out to be. Not a single Richard Strauss opera. Not a single Russian opera. And the castings! Mamma mia! Mattila as Amelia? Fleming as Desdemona? Racette as Leonora? Damrau as Violetta? Netrebko, Poplavskaya, Voigt in the same roles they've sung hundreds of times all over again. Let me tell you, this nightmarish deja-vu of safe, unexciting and unadventurous programming will surely unfold without me attending any of the above as I have no interest in hearing/seeing any of it whatsoever.

The season opens with Netrebko's Elisir d'amore which is already a pretty bad omen. Then there's a lot of poorly cast Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, and even The Tempest by Ades - not my cups of preferred beverages these days.

But, thanks to the Almighty God, there are good things planned too. Top spot of the most anticipated run of the season goes to Carmen with Anita Rachvelishvili and Kate Royal: two of my favorite singers in the same production and they even have a good tenor to boot - wow, that's definitely sight unseen in many a moon. Parsifal with Jonas Kaufmann is also a must. As are Sondra Radvanovsky's Elisabetta and Leonora. I am also curious about Johan Botha's Otello, but he's singing with Fleming as his Desdemona (why not Stoyanova???) My wife wants to see Aida with Monastyrska (whom I've never heard before) and Olga Borodina, whom we both love dearly, so we're definitely going. I may also see Die Walkure, only because I've never heard Martina Serafin live, as the rest of the cast (with the exception of Stephanie Blythe) does not look promising at all. I would go to Francesca di Rimini with Westbroek, but Giordani happens to be in it too, and I can't stand him. And Maria Stuarda with Joyce DiDonato is a possibility as well, even though I may opt to wait for the DVD to come out.

But this is it, folks! This is it!

And I remember times when I used to attend about 20-30 Met performances per season. Helas, these times appear to be long gone. Most likely, for good.

Nowadays we should consider ourselves lucky if we manage to squeeze 5-6 exciting nights out of the Met for the whole year.

[John F]

The Met 2012-2013 Season with full castings has been leaked to the internet

So where is it? Enquiring minds want to know.

[Len_Z]

*Verdi’s Aida (10)*
November 23, 26, 29, December 3, 7, 12, 15m, 19, 22, 28
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Aida: Liudmyla Monastyrska (Nov, Dec. 12, 15) / Hui He (Dec 3, 7, 19, 22,
28)
Amneris: Olga Borodina
Radamès: Marco Berti (Nov, Dec 3, 7) / Roberto Alagna (Dec 12, 15, 19, 22,
28)
Amonasro: Alberto Mastromarino (Nov, Dec 3, 7) / George Gagnidze (Dec 12,
15, 19, 22, 28)
Ramfis: Stefan Kocán
The King: Miklós Sebestyén

*Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (10)
*November 8, 12, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, December 4, 8m, 14
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Amelia: Karita Mattila
Oscar: Kathleen Kim
Ulrica: Dolora Zajick (Nov 8, 12, 15, 19, 24) / Stephanie Blythe (Nov 27,
30, Dec 4, 8, 14)
Riccardo: Marcelo Álvarez (Nov 8, 12, 15, 19, 24, 30) / Roberto De Biasio
(Nov 27)
Renato: Dmitri Hvorostovsky

*Mozart’s The Barber of Seville (7)*
December 18, 22m, 26m, 27, 29, January 3, 5
Conductor: Yves Abel
Rosina: Isabel Leonard
Count Almaviva: Alek Shrader
Figaro: Rodion Pogossov
Dr. Bartolo: John Del Carlo
Don Basilio: Jordan Bisch

*Bizet’s Carmen (13)*
September 28, October 2, 6, 11, 15, 18, February 9, 13, 16, 20, 23m, 26,
March 1
Conductor: Michele Mariotti
Micaëla: Kate Royal (Sep, Oct) / Ekaterina Sherbachenko (Feb 9, 13, 16, 20,
23, Mar) / Hei-Kyung Hong (Feb 26)
Carmen: Anita Rachvelishvili
Don José: Yonghoon Lee (Sep, Oct) / Andrew Richards (Feb, Mar)
Escamillo: Kyle Ketelsen (Sep, Oct 2, 6, 15) / Dwayne Croft (Oct 11) /
Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Feb, Mar)

*Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (6)*
November 16, 20, 24m, December 1m, 6, 10
Conductor: Harry Bicket
Servilia: Lucy Crowe
Vitellia: Barbara Frittoli
Sesto: Elina Garanca
Annio: Kate Lindsey
Tito: Giuseppe Filianoti
Publio: Oren Gradus

*Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (6)
*January 17, 21, 25, 29, February 2m, 5
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Countess Adèle: Nino Machaidze
Isolier: Karine Deshayes
Ragonde: Susanne Resmark
Count Ory: Juan Diego Flórez
Raimbaud: Nathan Gunn
The Tutor: Nicola Ulivieri

*Poulenc’s Les Dialogues des Carmélites (3*)
May 4m, 9, 11
Conductor: Louis Langrée
Blanche de la Force: Isabel Leonard
Mme Lidoine: Patricia Racette
Constance: Erin Morley
Mère Marie: Elizabeth Bishop
First Prioress: Felicity Palmer
Chevalier de la Force: Paul Appleby

*Verdi’s Don Carlo (7)*
February 22, 25, 28, March 6, 9m, 13, 16
Conductor: Lorin Maazel
Elisabeth de Valois: Sondra Radvanovsky
Eboli: Anna Smirnova
Don Carlo: Ramón Vargas
Rodrigo: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Philip II: Ferruccio Furlanetto
Grand Inquisitor: Eric Halfvarson

*Mozart’s Don Giovanni (7)*
November 28, December 1, 5, 8, 11, 15, 20
Conductor: Edward Gardner
Donna Anna: Susanna Phillips
Donna Elvira: Emma Bell
Zerlina: Ekaterina Siurina
Don Ottavio: Charles Castronovo
Don Giovanni: Ildar Abdrazakov
Leporello: Erwin Schrott
Masetto: David Soar
The Commendatore: Raymond Aceto

*Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (10)
*September 24, 27, October 1, 5, 10, 13m, January 30, February 2, 6, 9m
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Adina: Anna Netrebko
Nemorino: Matthew Polenzani
Belcore: Mariusz Kwiecien
Dulcamara: Ambrogio Maestri (Sep, Oct) / John Del Carlo (Jan, Feb)

*Gounod’s Faust*
March 21, 25, 28, April 2, 5
Conductor: Alain Altinoglu
Marguerite: Marina Poplavskaya
Siébel: Julie Boulianne
Faust: Piotr Beczala
Valentin: Alexey Markov
Méphistophélès: John Relyea

*Zandonai’s Francesca di Rimini (6)
*March 4, 9, 12, 16m, 19, 22
Conductor: Marco Armiliato
Francesca: Eva Maria Westbroek
Paolo il Bello: Marcello Giordani
Malatestino: Robert Brubaker
Gianciotto: Mark Delavan

*Handel’s Giulio Cesare (10)
*April 4, 9, 12, 19, 22, 27m, 30, May 3, 7, 10
Conductor: Harry Bicket
Cleopatra: Natalie Dessay
Sesto: Alice Coote
Cornelia: Patricia Bardon
Giulio Cesare: David Daniels
Tolomeo: Christophe Dumaux
Achilla: Guido Loconsolo

*Wagner’s Götterdämmerung (3)
*April 23, May 2, 11m
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Brünnhilde: Deborah Voigt (Apr 23, May 11) / Katarina Dalayman (May 2)
Gutrune: Wendy Bryn Harmer
Waltraute: Karen Cargill
Siegfried: Jay Hunter Morris (Apr 23, May 2) / Lars Cleveman (May 11)
Gunther: Iain Paterson
*Alberich: Eric Owens (Apr 23, May 2) / Richard Paul Fink (May 11)
Hagen: Hans-Peter König*

*Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda (8)*
December 31, January 4, 8, 12, 15, 19m, 23, 26
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Elisabetta: Elza van den Heever
Maria Sturada: Joyce DiDonato
Leicester: Francesco Meli
Cecil: Joshua Hopkins
Talbot: Matthew Rose

*Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (6)
*October 29, November 3, 7, 10, 13, 17
Conductor: David Robertson
Countess Almaviva: Maija Kovalevska (Oct, Nov 3, 7, 10, 13) / Hei-Kyung
Hong (Nov 17)
Susanna: Mojca Erdmann
Cherubino: Christine Schäfer
Count Almaviva: Gerald Finley
Figaro: Ildar Abdrazakov

*Verdi’s Otello (11)
*October 9, 13, 16, 20m, 27m, March 11, 15, 20, 23, 27, 30
Conductor: Semyon Bychkov (Oct) / Plácido Domingo (Mar)
Desdemona: Renée Fleming (Oct) / Krassimira Stoyanova (Mar)
Otello: Johan Botha (Oct) / José Cura (Mar)
Cassio: Michael Fabiano (Oct) / Alexey Dolgov (Mar)
Iago: Falk Struckmann (Oct) / Thomas Hampson (Mar)

*Wagner’s Parsifal (7)*
February 15, 18, 21, 27, March 2m, 5, 8
Conductor: Daniele Gatti
Kundry: Katarina Dalayman
Parsifal: Jonas Kaufmann
Amfortas: Peter Mattei
Klingsor: Evgeny Nikitin
Gurnemanz: René Pape

*Wagner’s Das Rheingold (3)*
April 6m, 25, May 4
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Freia: Wendy Bryn Harmer
Fricka: Stephanie Blythe
Erda: Meredith Arwady
Loge: Stefan Margita
Mime: Gerhard Siegel (Apr) / Robert Brubaker (May)
Wotan: Mark Delavan (Apr) / Greer Grimsley (May)
Alberich: Eric Owens (Apr) / Richard Paul Fink (May)
Fasolt: Franz-Josef Selig
Fafner: Hans-Peter König

*Verdi’s Rigoletto (14)*
January 28, 31, February 4, 8, 12, 16m, 19, 23, April 13, 16, 20, 24, 27,
May 1
Conductor: Michele Mariotti (Jan, Feb) / Marco Armiliato (Apr, May)
Gilda: Diana Damrau (Jan, Feb) / Lisette Oropesa (Apr, May)
Maddalena: Svetlana Volkova (Jan, Feb) / Nancy Fabiola Herrera (Apr, May)
Duke of Mantua: Piotr Beczala (Jan, Feb) / Vittorio Grigolo (Apr, May)
Rigoletto: Željko Lucic (Jan, Feb) / George Gagnidze (Apr, May)
Sparafucile: Stefan Kocán (Jan, Feb) / Enrico Giuseppe Iori (Apr, May)

*Puccini’s La Rondine (5)*
January 11, 14, 18, 22, 26m
Conductor: Ion Marin
Magda: Kristine Opolais
Lisette: Anna Christy
Ruggero: Giuseppe Filianoti
Prunier: Marius Brenciu
Rambaldo: Dwayne Croft

Wagner’s Siegfried (3)
April 20m, 29, May 8
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Brünnhilde: Deborah Voigt (Apr 20, May [image: ] / Katarina Dalayman
(April 29)
Erda: Meredith Arwady
Siegfried: Jay Hunter Morris (Apr) / Lars Cleveman (May)
Mime: Gerhard Siegel (Apr) / Robert Brubaker (May)
Wanderer: Mark Delavan (Apr) / Greer Grimsley (May)
Alberich: Eric Owens (Apr) / Richard Paul Fink (May)

*Adès’s The Tempest (8)
*October 23, 27, 31, November 3m, 6, 10m, 14, 17m
Conductor: Thomas Adès
Ariel: Audrey Elizabeth Luna
Miranda: Isabel Leonard
Trinculo: Iestyn Davies
Ferdinand: Alek Shrader
Caliban: Alan Oke
King of Naples: William Burden
Antonio: Toby Spence
Prospero: Simon Keenlyside

*Verdi’s La Traviata (7)
*March 14, 18, 23m, 26, 30m, April 2, 6
Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Violetta Valéry: Diana Damrau
Alfredo Germont: Saimir Pirgu
Giorgio Germont: Plácido Domingo

*Verdi’s Il Trovatore (12)*
September 29m, October 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, 25, January 9, 12m, 16, 19, 24
Conductor: Daniele Callegari
Leonora: Carmen Giannattasio (Sep 29, Oct. 4, [image: ] / Sondra
Radvanovsky (Oct 12, 17, 20, 25) / Patricia Racette (Jan 9, 12, 19, 24) /
Angela Meade (Jan 16)
Azucena: Dolora Zajick (Sep, Oct) / Stephanie Blythe (Jan)
Manrico: TBA (Sep, Oct) / Marco Berti (Jan)
di Luna: Franco Vassallo (Sep 29, Oct 4, 8, 12, 20) / Ángel Ordeña (Oct 17)
/ Alexey Markov (Jan)
Ferrando: Morris Robinson (Sep, Oct) / Christophoros Stamboglis (Jan)

*Berlioz’s Les Troyens (7)*
December 13, 17, 21, 26, 29m, January 1, 5m
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Cassandra: Deborah Voigt
Dido: Susan Graham
Anna: Karen Cargill
Aeneas: Marcello Giordani
Iopas: Eric Cutler
Chorèbe: Dwayne Croft
Narbal: Kwangchul Youn

*Puccini’s Turandot (11)*
September 26, 29, October 3, 6m, 30, November 2, 5, 9, January 2, 7, 10
Conductor: Dan Ettinger
Turandot: Maria Guleghina (Sep, Oct 3, 6) / Iréne Theorin (Oct 30, Nov, Jan)
Liù: Hibla Gerzmava (Sep, Oct 3, 6) / Takesha Meshé Kizart (Oct 30, Nov) /
Hibla Gerzmava (Jan)
Calaf: Marco Berti (Sep, Oct 3, 6) / Marcello Giordani (Oct 30, Nov) /
Walter Fraccaro (Jan)
Timur: James Morris (Sep, Oct, Nov) / Samuel Ramey (Jan)

*Wagner’s Die Walküre (3)*
April 13m, 26, May 6
Conductor: Fabio Luisi
Brünnhilde: Deborah Voigt (Apr 13, May) / Katarina Dalayman (Apr 26)
Sieglinde: Martina Serafin
Fricka: Stephanie Blythe
Siegmund: Simon O’Neill
Wotan: Mark Delavan / Greer Grimsley (May)
Hunding: Hans-Peter König

[John F]

Great! Thanks much. Does your source say which are the new productions and who the directors will be? The two operas new to the Met are obvious, and Gelb has opened each season with a new production so maybe "Elisir d'amore" will be too, but that may be only the half of it.

Without fretting over what's not in the season, I see some things of interest that are there. Thomas Adès’s "The Tempest," a big success in its premiere at Covent Garden and represented by some intriguing clips on YouTube, and Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda," which at least one of us will get all excited about. Possibly other new productions, depending on who's directing. Revivals of "Le Comte Ory," "Dialogues des Carmélites," "Francesca da Rimini," "Les Troyens," "La Clemenza di Tito."

The absence of "Wozzeck," "Lulu," and "Moses und Aron" may reflect the absence of James Levine, as does the omnipresence of Fabio Luisi, and for me, without Levine too few operas have really top-flight conductors. Complaints about casting are routine, but after all, the top singers don't always choose to sing the roles and operas people might prefer to see them in, and Verdi and Puccini are money repertoire for singers as well as any opera company.

And then there's "Mozart's The Barber of Seville"...

[lennygoran]

Mamma mia!

Mamma mia from bdway-gelb must be desperate! Len on the run

[lennygoran]

Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda," which at least one of us will get all excited about.

That's right! Len (grin)

[THEHORN]

I think it's premature to say that any of these individual operas are "poorly cast", because they could very well turn out to be much better than you think they will be.
I agree about the disaapointment of not having any Russian operas, but the 2013-14 season does have Prince Igor with Gergiev conducting , and that's great news !
In terms of conducting , the season actually looks quite promising. Having Maazel,Luisi, Nezet-Seguin, Robertson et al there shows that the Met must be doing something right .

[jbuck919]

I'm eagerly anticipating Mozart's Barber of Seville, a world premiere if I am not mistaken.

[John F]

Yeah, I didn't know he'd composed a prequel.

[Len_Z]

I was amused by the authorship of Il barbiere as well, but decided to post the list exactly the way I had received it

As for new productions, no word yet, but I'm safely guessing L'elisir and Stuarda will be new.

I'm not writing the whole season off just yet, especially after listening to some Monastyrska on Youtube last night - she sounds like she might be the answer to our prayers and THE next dramatic soprano to watch. There are other interesting casting decisions as well. For instance, Carmen with Rachvelishvili and Royal should be the best in recent memory. And Parsifal (if Gatti can really conduct it, which for me is still a huge if). I'm sure other people will find other things to be looking forward to.

[stenka razin]

Len,

A mixed bag, but among the goodies please run don't walk to see Rossini's scintillating penultimate masterpiece, 'Le Comte Ory'. It is a fabulous, underrated opera. Pick a performance below and take the missus, my friend.

'*Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (6)
*January 17, 21, 25, 29, February 2m, 5
Conductor: Maurizio Benini
Countess Adèle: Nino Machaidze
Isolier: Karine Deshayes
Ragonde: Susanne Resmark
Count Ory: Juan Diego Flórez
Raimbaud: Nathan Gunn
The Tutor: Nicola Ulivieri'




Regards,
Mel


P.S. In 1960 I saw the New York Philharmonic concert version of this wonderful opera with the not famous Shirley Verrett-Carter,as she was originally known in this rendition, conducted by the sadly missed Thomas Schippers. Loved this Rossini gem ever since.

[Len_Z]

Thanks, Mel.

We've seen it during the previous run, a DVD recording of which, I should add, is going to be released in about a month.

Thanks again!

Len