METROPOLITAN OPERA ANNOUNCES NEW SEASON

On Tuesday, February 10th, General Manager Peter Gelb held a press

conference to announce the 2009/2010 season at the Metropolitan Opera.
New productions include Carmen starring Angela Gheorghiu. It is a rarity
for a soprano to take on one of the benchmarks of the mezzo soprano repertory. However,
recordings exist featuring Maria Callas and Leontyne Price as the fiery gypsy.
Paulo Szot (the Tony winning star of “South Pacific”) will star in a new production of
Shostakovich’s The Nose (MSM did a production of this piece circa 1986).
Another new production will feature Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon:
The Tales of Hoffmann. Other new productions will include Tosca with
Karita Matila, Rossini’s Attila, Janacek’s From The House of The Dead featuring
Esa-Pekka Salonen’s company debut as conductor, Armida (Renee
Fleming) and Hamlet by Thomas (starring Simon Keenlyside and Natalie
Dessay. Several revivals of major productions have been cancelled due to
cost: Die Frau Ohne Schatten, Benvenuto Cellini, and The Ghosts of Versailles.
Of particular interest is the production team for Attila. The costumes will be
By Miuccia Prada and the sets by the Swiss production team that designed the
Bird’s Nest for the Beijing Olympics.

Mr. Gelb also announced that the Met’s HD transmissions had passed the million-ticket
mark in sales for the previous weekend.