New York Magazine - USA (2019-09-16)

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SPOTLIGHTONFALL

Opera, Redefi ned

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA’S
2019 – 2020 season kicks off in late
September with an electrifying new
production of America’s greatest
opera, the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess.
Heading the starry cast inhabiting
Catfi sh Row, Eric Owens and Angel
Blue sing the title roles in the fi rst Met
performances of the work in nearly
30 years.
Porgy and Bess is the fi rst of fi ve
new productions at the Met this
season, including the eagerly awaited
fall premiere of Philip Glass’s hypnotic
masterpiece Akhnaten, which
features Anthony Roth Costanzo as
the mysterious title pharaoh who
brought monotheism to ancient
Egypt.
In December, South African artist
William Kentridge follows up his
two previous hit Met productions
with a visionary new take on Berg’s
harrowing drama Wozzeck, led by
the company’s dynamic new Music
Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and
featuring baritone Peter Mattei in
the title role. Star mezzo-soprano
Joyce DiDonato spits fi re in February
as the power-hungry title empress in
Agrippina, Handel’s satirical vision of
imperial Rome, in a wittily irreverent
new production, and springtime
brings the eagerly anticipated return
of Sir Bryn Terfel to the company
for the fi rst time in eight years to
headline a sweeping new production
of Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer.
The schedule also includes a full
slate of popular and acclaimed
revivals, all featuring opera’s greatest
artists. And with Sunday matinees
now a regular addition to the Met’s
2019 – 2020 lineup, opera lovers have
more chances to see the works than
ever before.

THE METROPOLITAN OPERA

30 Lincoln Center Plaza

metopera.org

Anthony Roth Costanzo in Akhnaten (top). Eric Owens and Angel Blue in Porgy and Bess (bottom)

Photos: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera