Hey opera
lovers!
Today I’m
gonna talk with you about one of my favorite topics ever aka new Live in HD
season 2015-16 at Metropolitan Opera! The other day Met has officially
announced the schedule of the next season including operas which will be
broadcasted. That day of the announcement is like Christmas to me! I breathe
faster, I can’t talk about anything else, I search the Net for official photos
and there are a lot of other symptoms which you can observe in me on that
special day:). So now when finally I can think and speak rationally, let’s
discuss the glorious season 2015-16 together!
We will be
presented 10 operas in cinema theatres: six absolutely new productions and four
well-known stagings.
The
revivals include Verdi’s «Il Trovatore», Wagner’s «Tannhäuser», Puccini’s «Turandot»
and «Madama Butterfly».
We all can
guess why «Il Trovatore» is here when we look at the cast sheet. And the answer
is Anna Netrebko! I think in the nearest future there’ll be no HD season
without her and she opens it again! That’s good news for me. I adore her and
Leonora suits her voice perfectly but another benefit of this production is
Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Count di Luna:). Anna and Dmitri will steal the show,
I’m sure!
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gr9DN5ODc2Y/VO3FOHiViJI/AAAAAAAAB1Y/AX1s0AhDiw0/s1600/DhM68SeuikI.jpg) |
Dmitri Hvorostovsky in "Il Trovatore"/Metropolitan Opera |
I’m really
looking forward to «Madama Butterfly» as well! I’ve wanted to watch this
beautiful production for a long time…I don’t know why but I don’t wanna watch
it with Patricia Racette and Marcelo Giordano, as this duet doesn’t seem
impressive to me. Whereas in the new season we have Kristine Opolais and
Roberto Alagna in the title roles! They are both very good singers and actors,
so it’s gonna be amazing!
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rrkLeE6h_AM/VO3FkWPxKaI/AAAAAAAAB1g/bkMRW8iGI1w/s1600/opolais_butterfly.jpg) |
Kristine Opolais in "Madama Butterfly"/Metropolitan Opera |
Wagner’s «Tannhäuser»
and Puccini’s «Turandot» are not in my
must-see list for the next year. I don’t feel like watching a lot of Wagner now
and even if I did I’d choose another opera. Even the cast doesn’t make me
change my mind (Eva-Maria Westbroek sings Elisabeth and Johan Botha takes on Tannhäuser).
As for «Turandot» I love Zeffirelli’s production but I’ve already seen it two
times. I’m not very curious about how Nina Stemme will perform this role so I
doubt that I’ll watch it.
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m5LPReMyOck/VO3F1KImLrI/AAAAAAAAB1o/t0O4srmsQGA/s1600/bL-avcXOGYw.jpg) |
«Tannhäuser»/Metropolitan Opera |
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oCgSJLIVwkg/VO3GDa-XybI/AAAAAAAAB1w/oTL8xZ5Zx_w/s1600/UVCb_LOcymw.jpg) |
«Turandot»/Metropolitan Opera |
Of course,
my biggest excitement concerns new stuff in the season 2015-16, i.e. Verdi’s «Otello»,
Berg’s «Lulu», Bizet’s «Les Pêcheurs de Perles», Puccini’s «Manon Lescaut»,
Donizetti’s «Roberto Devereux», Strauss’s «Elektra». I’ve never heard or
watched any of these operas, so I can hardly imagine what music is gonna be
like! And I like when I can start getting to know a piece from scratch.
The season
opens with new «Otello». I’ve already seen Macbeth and I can say that Verdi is
a perfect composer for making this immortal Shakespeare’s work as a music drama.
And I guess «Otello» is the same case. But at first I have to watch the
production with Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa cause I’ve heard that they
are legendary at these roles. The cast of the opening night 2015 seems
promising: Aleksandrs Antonenko as Otello, Sonya Yoncheva sings Desdemona, Željko
Lučić plays Iago. Honestly, I would prefer Hvorostovsky to Lučić. To my mind,
Russian baritone looks more convincing in this part than his Serbian colleague.
But Antonenko and Yoncheva is an interesting duet, we’ll see what they’ll show us
at the premiere. The director of «Otello» Bartlett Sher decided to create a
sort of a glass maze on stage. I’m really confused how they’ll make the set
work for the audience in the auditorium and in the cinema but we’ll find it out
soon:). Anyway, I totally rely on Mr Sher cause his previous works like «L’elisir
d’amore» and «Il barbiere di Siviglia» didn’t disappoint me!
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tfs0tBcOn9I/VO3GTfDP_9I/AAAAAAAAB14/yOSX4IAWkD4/s1600/fvX8MShJSi8.jpg) |
Aleksandrs Antonenko as Otello |
Berg’s «Lulu»
is back to Met! I have to say that I’m a little bit scared of operas of the
XXth century but in this case I wanna try it out. Marlis Petersen will play
controversial Lulu and maestro James Levine will bring out the best from Berg’s
score. William Kentridge is assigned for the production. He did «The Nose» for
Met several years ago. And according to his video interview, he’ll stick to his
own style, so there will be black-and-white portraits of Lulu’s lovers, visual
effects etc. The plot is very modern and sometimes provocative but I’m really
interested in seeing it staged!
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jQAktI0cvz8/VO3GkHH8xAI/AAAAAAAAB2A/T6j4B2tMQKw/s1600/3XieFq5OEJg.jpg) |
Marlis Petersen as Lulu |
Bizet’s «Les
Pêcheurs de Perles» also fascinate me! «Carmen» is one of my favorite operas
and I think Bizet is already genius for this only piece. But despite my
admiration I haven’t heard his other works…yeah…shame on me! I don’t know how
it’s happened but I just saw him as a composer of one opera. Now I’m really
excited to learn who Bizet is outside «Carmen». The cast is cool: Diana Damrau,
Mariusz Kwiecien, Matthew Polenzani. I have no idea about its plot or music so
it’s gonna be a huge surprise for me:). I’m not familiar with Penny Woolcock’s
productions but I like what I’ve heard in her interview about «Les Pêcheurs». I
hope for the best!
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4YsKOWVLc1M/VPFzQ3qEcNI/AAAAAAAAB28/eiUK7t_a4lA/s1600/Diana%2BDamrau%2BPearl%2BFishers%2BBizet%2BKristian%2BSchuller%2BMetropolitan%2BOpera%2B2015-16%2BSeason.jpg) |
Diana Damrau as Leila |
Another
mysterious opera for me is Strauss’s «Elektra». I’m a complete beginner at
Strauss and again I don’t know what to expect from him. But I’d love to make
this journey. And why shouldn’t I start with «Elektra»?) Of course, the main
star of this production is Nina Stemme who is one of the leading interpreters
of Wagner and Strauss in the world. The director Patrice Chéreau has already
staged «Elektra» in Milan and now this production is gonna be presented at the
Met.
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OR2_h9gMuHw/VO3H5XZk8jI/AAAAAAAAB2g/wciEGDxUFUo/s1600/TOVhCVkd1VY.jpg) |
Nina Stemme as Elektra |
And now we’ve
come to the last but not least operas - Puccini’s «Manon Lescaut» and
Donizetti’s «Roberto Devereux». If you ask me what production I’m waiting for
the most, I’ll say these two pieces!!! I love Puccini and I love Donizetti and
to my joy these two composers come to the fore in the upcoming season as Met is
going to show five operas of each of them.
At this
moment, «Manon Lescaut» is my primary task in discovering Puccini’s music. This
opera is undeservedly staged very seldom so I couldn’t have found a good
production with a great cast and…God, bless Met! Now I have all I want:
Kristine Opolais and Jonas Kaufmann in the title roles and my favorite operatic
director Richard Eyre!!! Mr Eyre has
already created three amazing productions for the Met: «Carmen», «Werther» and «Le
nozze di Figaro». I enjoyed them very much and I’m excited to see his next work.
He decided to set the action in the 40s of the XXth century in Paris. It’ll
look like a film noir that, I think, suits such a character like Manon very
well.
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xI2N6W32kpo/VO3HBQkSBlI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/WUKa5zjjRiE/s1600/hx_Fjt8NE4I.jpg) |
Kristine Opolais as Manon Lescaut |
«Roberto
Devereux» is the final opera in Donizetti’s «royal» trilogy. Sondra Radvanovsky
is going to perform all three queens during one season! This is insane!!! But
I’m sure she’ll make it work! (Such a pity that there won’t be live in HD
transmissions of other two operas:(). Sir David McVicar has staged «Anna Bolena»
and «Maria Stuarda» before and they are just gorgeous! I bet this time it’s
gonna be at the same level. Matthew Polenzani, Elina Garanca, Mariusz Kwiecien
will join Sondra on stage. They are very good interpreters of belcanto
repertoire, so definitely it’ll be one of the best performances in the season
2015-16! Now we just have to wait:).
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1HkLhcuqUtw/VO3HT2jrl-I/AAAAAAAAB2Y/KTNx4Fr5vmE/s1600/JPQzqi0PF_8.jpg) |
Sondra Radvanovsky as Elizabeth I |
P.S. How do
you feel about new Met season 2015-16? What transmissions are you gonna watch
for sure?
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