An Analysis of the 2020-2021 Metropolitan Opera Season

The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center Plaza
(Photo by Jonathan Tichler / Metropolitan Opera)

By Fred Plotkin

WQXR — February 13, 2020

The current 2019-2020 season at the Metropolitan Opera has been, in my opinion, the strongest in many years, with four excellent new productions (Porgy and Bess, Akhnaten, Wozzeck, and Agrippina) and superb revivals (among them La Bohème, The Queen of Spades, Der Rosenkavalier, and La Damnation de Faust). There have been many fine, exciting singers not only in unusual repertory, but also in bread-and-butter perennials that in the recent past were often indifferently cast and under-rehearsed.

Based on the announcement of the 2020-2021 season, I have reason to hope that the current high standard will be maintained. The programming of this new season is innovative and, I believe, immensely appealing. It combines the tried and true box office ABCs (Aïda, Bohème, Carmen) and two of the three Ts (Traviata and Trovatore, though not Tosca) with many singular works that should delight newcomers as well as die-hard fans. There are 23 different operas by 19 composers. Only two of them – Verdi, with four operas and Mozart with two – have more than one title. The other works are by Beethoven, Bellini, Berg, Bizet, Britten, Donizetti, Dvorak, Gounod, Handel, Heggie, Humperdinck, Offenbach, Prokofiev, Puccini, Rossini, Strauss, and Wagner. By contrast, the current season has 25 operas by 16 composers.

Not too long ago, the Met tended to program each season with blocks of works by the most famous composers – Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Strauss – and offer fewer options in other repertory. Just a bit of standard-issue bel canto, a couple of French works, and one in Russian or Czech. Handel only arrived at the Met in 1984, and modern works were few and far between.

Some of this practice persisted as recently as last season. In my analysis of the 2019-2020 season, I lamented that 55 performances, approximately a quarter of the total season, were operas by Puccini. Some readers took me to task for this, claiming that his works are accessible in ways that others are not. I don't quite agree, though I certainly admire Puccini's masterpieces. Each person has their own way into opera, and I find that younger audiences are inspired by pieces with contemporary themes, be they Agrippina (1709) or next season's new production of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's 2000 masterpiece Dead Man Walking, getting a belated Met premiere on April 8, 2021.

There is also commendable linguistic variety next season. There are 10 works in Italian (Aïda, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Bohème, Don Giovanni, Giulio Cesare, Nabucco, Il Pirata, Roberto Devereux, La Traviata, Il Trovatore). Five works (Fidelio, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Lulu, Tristan und Isolde, Die Zauberflöte) are in German. Three each are in French (Carmen, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Roméo et Juliette) and English (Billy Budd, Dead Man Walking, Hansel and Gretel), with one (The Fiery Angel) in Russian and one in Czech (Rusalka).

Ultimately, the quality of any company's offerings rises and falls on who is singing. In this regard, the upcoming season is very promising. Most operas are well-cast even in small roles, and I will detail some of the most interesting below. Of course, there are singers one would want to see at the Met who have major careers or have something special to offer artistically. Among those missing next season are Roberto Alagna, Daniela Barcellona, Leah Crocetto, Juan Diego Flórez, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, Gregory Kunde, Ambrogio Maestri, Karita Mattila, Michael Mayes, René Pape, Marianna Pizzolato, Sondra Radvanovsky, Marina Rebeka, and Michael Spyres.

I really wish the Met would find a way to cast the versatile and brilliant Anna Caterina Antonacci, who will make her debut at the Washington National Opera next season as Despina in Così fan tutte. Bryn Terfel, who has not sung at the Met since 2012, was supposed to star in the upcoming new production of Der fliegende Hölländer until he was recently sidelined by a fractured ankle. He will not be able to move about on a stage for quite a while and we all wish him well.

Which leads to a thought: the Met recently had a marvelous artistic success with a concert performance of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust. How about a concert version of Massenet's Don Quichotte with Furlanetto in the title role, Terfel as Sancho Panza, and Antonacci as Dulcinea, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin or Emmanuel Villaume? Concert performances cost less to stage and represent the possibility of hearing great artists in rare works at lower ticket prices. That is an incentive to get hesitant ticket buyers to try something less familiar.

Ticket prices are certainly a consideration. In its announcement of the new season, the Met said, "Ticket prices for the 2020-2021 season range from $25 to $480 for the 3,800 seats in the opera house. Approximately 40% of Met tickets cost less than $100, and approximately 60% of Met tickets cost less than $150. The Met will continue offering Flex Subscriptions, which allow subscribers to curate their own season. "Create Your Own' packages, in which three or more performances are discounted when purchased together, will be released for sale on April 15, 2020."

I have always been a believer in supporting arts institutions by purchasing subscriptions. You benefit yourself by having access to performances and seats you prefer. And you help a company front-load its income, making it easier to do advance planning. As it happens, ticket prices for subscribers at the Met are notably cheaper than single sales, and if you exchange a ticket you typically can get a new one at the subscriber's rate rather than that charged to a single-ticket buyer. Given the number of enticing performances next season, you want to make your ticket budget go as far as possible.

There will be 22 Sunday matinee performances next season. This is a popular time slot for audiences, though it has posed a logistical challenge for many Met employees as it has required them to work longer weeks on uneven schedules. Quite a few Monday performances have been eliminated, which is unfortunate as it is a night with fewer cultural offerings around town. Properly marketed, this could become a niche audience and the dark night of the week at the Met could alternate among Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, when most New York theaters and concert halls are open and pose competition to the Met.

There will be five new productions next season. Opening night (September 21) sees a new vision of Aïda, replacing the familiar monumental staging that served for three decades. It has been entrusted to Michael Mayer, who produced the Rigoletto and La Traviata now in the Met repertoire. Anna Netrebko, in the title role, and Anita Rachvelishvili (Amneris) will surely rekindle the fire that made them so thrilling in these roles a couple of seasons ago. Piotr Beczala moves into heavier repertory with the assumption of the role of Radames. Ludovic Tézier sings Amonasro and Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Aïda will have 15 performances, with other talented singers joining the production during the season.

Prokofiev's The Fiery Angel comes on November 12 in a production by Barrie Kosky that premiered in Munich in 2015. Kosky is a superb director, and I am gratified that he will finally come to the Met. The opera will be conducted by Michail Jurowski, with Evgeny Nikitin and Svetlana Sozdateleva in the leading roles.

Die Zauberflöte gets a new production on December 31, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. There is a talented cast, but I am most drawn to this because the production will be by the outstanding British director Simon McBurney, with lighting by the excellent Jean Kalman and a team that includes a projection designer and a sound designer. I have never seen an opera done by McBurney, but have been a fan of this theater work for a long time.

Another prominent theater director, Ivo van Hove, makes his debut with Don Giovanni (March 1), one of the hardest of all operas to direct because of its many characters and 17 scenes in two acts. It has a great cast, with Peter Mattei in the title role, Gerald Finley as Leporello, Ailyn Pérez as Donna Anna, Isabel Leonard as Donna Elvira, and Hera Hyesang Park as Zerlina. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts. Finley will sing the Don later in the season, with the Italian baritone Alex Esposito as Leporello.

Ivo van Hove also directs Dead Man Walking (April 8), with Joyce DiDonato perfectly cast as Sister Helen Prejean, Latonia Moore as Sister Rose, Etienne Dupuis as Joseph De Rocher, and the luxury casting of Susan Graham as De Rocher's mother (she was Sister Helen at the world premiere at San Francisco Opera 20 years ago). This is one performance I will not miss.

The new productions are all very exciting to think about, but we should not overlook many of the revivals, often with amazing casts. Most of them deliver visually and dramatically, and even those that don't (Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Tristan und Isolde, Il Pirata) have mostly superb singers who more than make up for what does not work dramatically.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann returns on September 22 with the excellent Daniele Rustioni in the pit and Matthew Polenzani in the title role. Four talented women play the objects of his affections, with Luca Pisaroni assuming the roles of the Four Villains.

Donizetti's thrilling Roberto Devereux (September 23) has Stephen Costello in the title role, with Angela Meade as Queen Elizabeth I and Jamie Barton as Sara. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Lorenzo Viotti makes his much-anticipated conducting debut with Carmen (October 2). J'Nai Bridges sings the title role on opening night. An array of talented singers will appear through the 14 performances, and I want to make special mention that the outstanding Russell Thomas will be Don José at some of them.

Tristan und Isolde is always an event – and certainly will be when it returns on October 17 led by Hartmut Haenchen in his Met debut, with a cast including Christine Goerke, Ekaterina Gubanova, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley, and Günther Groissböck. These are all top-flight Wagnerian singers.

La Traviata (October 24) has three Italian conductors (Carlo Rizzi, Daniele Callegari, and, in an important Met debut, Speranza Scappucci). Their Violettas will be Ailyn Péréz, Anita Hartig, and Lisette Oropesa. Several tenors will appear as well. I want to point out the Met debut of Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat on April 23 – he will likely be in town when the Met does Nabucco, and it would not surprise me if he is understudying this role, with which he scored a huge success in Parma in 2019. Just as Lise Davidsen was the breakout star in the current season and Anita Rachvelishvili was two years ago, I think Enkhbat might be the one in 2020-2021.

Il Trovatore will have 12 performances, starting on October 30. There will be two strong casts, all led by Michele Mariotti. Leonora will performed by Sonya Yoncheva and Krassimira Stoyanova, Azucena by Ekaterina Semenchuk and Anita Rachvelishvili, Manrico by Roberto Aronica and Russell Thomas, and di Luna by Quinn Kelsey and Ludovic Tézier.

La Bohème has 17 performances starting November 21, with a large group of fine singers rotating in and out. I am told that Angela Gheorghiu will give a single performance as Mimì.

To coincide with the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, Fidelio returns on November 30. I am not sure why it will not be performed on the actual birthday (December 16), but rather on the next day. This is a not-to-miss night at the Met. The first cast includes Lise Davidsen, Golda Schultz, Brandon Jovanovich, Franz-Josef Selig, and Tomasz Konieczny. Maestro Nézet-Séguin conducts.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia opens on December 11 for ten performances. Giacomo Sagripanti makes a conducting debut, with Pretty Yende, Lawrence Brownlee, Andrey Zhilikhovsky, Maurizio Muraro, and Ildar Abdrazakov. I smile just thinking about this cast.

A holiday presentation of Hansel and Gretel will have luxury casting: Elizabeth DeShong and Sasha Cooke, both great talents, share the role of Hansel. Hera Hyesang Park and Mané Galoyan will be Gretel, John Daszak is the Witch, and Michaela Martens is Gertrude. Thomas Hampson makes a welcome return to the Met as Peter. The excellent maestro Edward Gardner conducts.

Gounod's Roméo et Juliette returns January 12 with the opening night leads Nadine Sierra and Stephen Costello conducted by Nézet-Séguin. Some later performances will be conducted by Emmanuel Villaume with two promising tenors, Ismael Jordi and Benjamin Bernheim, making their debuts as Roméo.

Handel specialist Harry Bicket returns for Giulio Cesare (March 2) with Iestyn Davies in the title role and a great cast including Kristina Mkhitaryan, Kate Lindsey, Karen Cargill, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Duncan Rock.

Berg's Lulu will star Brenda Rae in the title role on March 5, joined by excellent singers headed by Susan Graham as Geschwitz and James Morris in the small role of Schigolch. Sebastian Weigle conducts.

Dvořák's Rusalka returns with an outstanding cast conducted by Jakub Hrůša and starring Sonya Yoncheva, Ekaterina Gubanova, Okka van der Damerau, Eric Owens, and Piotr Beczala – all in Mary Zimmerman's delightful production. It opens March 16.

Nabucco, opening March 26, should be a hot ticket. The production does not displease me, though some people find it busy and ungainly. George Gagnidze has the title role, while Oksana Dyka and Anna Netrebko share the role of Abigaille. Marco Armiliato will be at the helm for all performances, so they are in good hands. It's time for the Met to offer Armiliato a new opera production all his own.

One of the season's highlights is Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten. Nézet-Ségen leads a thrilling cast: Nina Stemme (Dyer's Wife), Elza van den Heever (Empress), Evelyn Herlitzius (the Nurse), Michael Volle (the Dyer), Klaus Florian Vogt (the Emperor), and Ryan Speedo Green (Messenger). There will be six performances beginning April 16.

Bellini's Il Pirata will delight bel canto lovers, with Diana Damrau and Angela Meade sharing the role of Imogene and Javier Camarena as Gualtiero. Eight performances start May 7.

John Dexter's remarkable production of Britten's Billy Budd has not been seen since 2012 – I consider it among the Met's best stagings. Simone Young conducts an excellent cast, including Joshua Hopkins in the title role, Matthew Polenzani as Captain Vere, and Matthew Rose is Claggart. Transgender baritone Lucia Lucas has a Met debut as Bosun. James Morris, who made his Met debut on January 7, 1971, as the King in Aïda, sings the Dansker – to date, he has sung 1,014 Met performances and remains the gold standard as Wotan and Claggart, among many roles. Few artists have 50-year careers in opera, and even fewer have performed at the level of James Morris. Bravo.

The titles for the The Met: Live in HD are Aida (October 10), Il Trovatore (November 7), Fidelio (December 12), Die Zauberflöte (January 16), Roméo et Juliette (January 30), Don Giovanni (March 27), Dead Man Walking (April 17), Die Frau ohne Schatten (April 24), Nabucco (May 8), and Il Pirata (May 22). Six of the nine will be conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In addition, there will be encore presentations of the 2006 English-language holiday adaptation of The Magic Flute (December 5) and the 2015 The Merry Widow starring Renée Fleming (February 27). I'm not sure why this choice was made – certainly it is not a problem to revive a transmission, but to show Flute five weeks before Die Zauberflöte seems redundant, and if one wants to present Fleming in an HD encore, I would suggest either Rodelinda or Der Rosenkavalier. Frankly, it seems an omission that the new production of The Fiery Angel will not have an HD transmission, and the Met's wonderful production of Billy Budd deserves to be documented.

Further observations about next season's schedule: The Met has decided to go dark for the month of February 2021, but is extending its season until June 5, almost a month longer than its customary closing night on the second Saturday in May. This winter pause comes at a time when many operagoers are away or prefer to stay indoors. Perhaps February would be a good time to have a mini-revival festival of HD transmissions from the past 15 seasons. That could earn the Met revenue and also keep the company in the minds of devoted opera lovers. For starters, the Met could present its Dialogues des Carmélites, Porgy and Bess, Prince Igor, La Clemenza di Tito, Les Troyens, La Fanciulla del West, and Tannhäuser (with the late Johan Botha in an outstanding performance).

As far as I can tell, there is no opera performance on November 3, 2020. That is Election Day, and you have no excuse not to do your civic duty. For the rest of the season, cast your vote for opera. It is illuminating, gratifying, and soul-affirming just when we need it most.

Source: qxr.org

Elina Garanca and members of the Metropolitan Opera's chorus in a concert performance
of Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" (Photo by Ken Howard / Met Opera)