Eight new productions, four of which are company premieres, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2009-10 season. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine jointly announced plans that include: the Met premieres of Rossini's Armida, Verdi's Attila, Janáček's From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich's The Nose; new productions of Bizet's Carmen, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Thomas's Hamlet, and Puccini's Tosca; and 18 revivals from the company's repertory. The season is the first to be entirely planned under Gelb's leadership, in collaboration with Levine (the past three seasons were planned before Gelb became General Manager in 2006-07 but included some productions, repertoire, and casting changes made by Gelb).
The season opens with a new production of Tosca by Luc Bondy in his house debut, starring Karita Mattila in her first Met performance of the title role. James Levine conducts. Renowned director Patrice Chéreau and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen both make Met debuts with the new production of Janáček's From the House of the Dead, which has won acclaim across Europe.
Bartlett Sher, whose staging of Il Barbiere di Siviglia was a hit two seasons ago, returns to direct his second Met production: Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, conducted by Levine, with Rolando Villazón in the title role, Anna Netrebko as Antonia, Elīna Garanča as Nicklausse, and René Pape as the four villains. The new Carmen, starring Angela Gheorghiu in her first-ever stage portrayal of the gypsy femme fatale, will also feature the debuts of director Richard Eyre and conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Roberto Alagna, as the soldier Don José, and Mariusz Kwiecien, as the bullfighter Escamillo, vie for Carmen's affections. Verdi's rarely heard Attila, with Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role of the Hun leader, features a conductor and a creative team all in their Met debuts: maestro Riccardo Muti, director Pierre Audi, and set and costume designers Miuccia Prada, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The extraordinary artist William Kentridge directs and designs a new staging of Shostakovich's The Nose, an opera based on the Gogol short story, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Paulo Szot, the Tony Award-winning star of Lincoln Center Theater's South Pacific, makes his Met debut in the leading role of Kovalyov. Last performed at the Met in 1897, Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet will be seen in a new production by Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser, conducted by Louis Langrée and starring Simon Keenlyside in the title role and Natalie Dessay as Ophélie. The season's final new production features Renée Fleming in Rossini's bel canto tour de force Armida, directed by Mary Zimmerman and conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Pierre Boulez makes his company debut leading the MET Orchestra in the final concert of its annual series at Carnegie Hall, with the other two concerts conducted by Levine.
Peter Gelb said, "Although the economy is bad, we are committed to maintaining the Met's artistic excellence. We have gained a new and larger public that we're determined to keep by continuing to present the world's leading artists in compelling new productions and appealing revivals."
James Levine said, "This is a wonderful balance of repertory that includes four works totally new to the Met as well as a number of great operas that have been out of the repertory for a long time. I'm also delighted that we have so many important debuts, including conductors, singers, directors and production teams."
*Many of the world's greatest singers are featured in roles that they have not sung at the Met before: Olga Borodina as Marguerite, Diana Damrau as Marie, Danielle De Niese as Susanna, Natalie Dessay as Ophélie, Renée Fleming as Armida, Elīna Garanča as Nicklausse, Angela Gheorghiu as Carmen, Angelika Kirchschlager as Hansel, Maija Kovalevska as Micaëla and Liù, Karita Mattila as Tosca, Anna Netrebko as Antonia, Patricia Racette in Il Trittico, Nina Stemme as Ariadne, Violeta Urmana as Aida and Odabella, Deborah Voigt as Senta, Anne Sofie von Otter as Countess Geschwitz, Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi, Piotr Beczala as Rodolfo, José Cura as Stiffelio, Plácido Domingo as Boccanegra, Marcello Giordani as Calàf, Jonas Kaufmann as Cavaradossi and Don José, Stephen Gould as Erik, Ramón Vargas as Foresto, Rolando Villazón as Hoffmann, Carlos Alvarez as Ezio, Simon Keenlyside as Hamlet, Mariusz Kwiecien as Escamillo, ?eljko Lučić as Michele, Peter Mattei as Shishkov, Ildar Abdrazakov as Attila, René Pape as the four villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Paulo Szot as Kovalyov, Bryn Terfel as Scarpia, and Juha Uusitalo as Scarpia and the Dutchman.
