By Robert Croan
Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, one of the most colorful, melodic operas in the repertory and also one of the most difficult to produce, opened the 2024-25 season of The Met: Live in HD—the Metropolitan Opera’s series of high-definition simulcasts in cinemas worldwide – on Oct. 5.
The Live in HD showings are an important and valuable part of South Florida’s classical music scene, where live opera performances are few and far between: three productions each year by Palm Beach Opera in Kravis Center; and three by Florida Grand Opera, in Miami’s Arsht Center and Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center. This season the South Florida Symphony will augment that with two concert performances in January of Bernstein’s Candide, but options for opera lovers in this area remain limited.
The Met’s current Hoffmann, a revival of an intermittently interesting 2009 staging by Bartlett Sher, showcased Benjamin Bernheim, today’s prime protagonist of the French tenor repertory, in the title role of the tormented poet who searches vainly and with tragic results for his ideal woman. In the present performance, Hoffmann’s first unsuccessful love, Olympia – who is actually a mechanical doll – was portrayed with spunk and virtuosity by American soprano Erin Morley, who got her star turn in one of the great coloratura showcases, the iconic “Doll Song.” It was also the occasion for the 500th Met performance by conductor Marco Armiliato, who made his company debut in 1998.
Oct. 19 brings the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Grounded, by Tony Award-winning New York-born composer Jeanine Tesori. Based on a play by George Brant, the plot centers on a female pilot, Jess (portrayed here by the role’s original protagonist, Canadian mezzo Emily D’Angelo) in her conflicts and travails as she deals with the complexities and moral issues of modern drone warfare. The conductor is the Met’s general director, Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Clips from the production, aired during one of the Hoffmann intermissions, revealed an appealing, singer-friendly score along with dramatically compelling vocalism from the lead singer.
Returning to a traditional opera favorite, Nezet-Seguin will again be on the podium Nov. 23 for the revival of David McVicar’s 2020 staging of Puccini’s Tosca, with powerhouse soprano Lise Davidson as the diva to end all divas. In this story of murder, suicide, rape and torture, baritone Quinn Kelsy will portray the corrupt police chief Baron Scarpia, catalyst and perpetrator most of the violence.
The year 2025 will usher in a new production of Verdi’s Aida, which used to be the Met’s most frequently performed work until it became too expensive to produce nearly every season. Nezet-Seguin presides over the January 25 performance, staged by Michael Mayer with American soprano Angel Blue in the title role of the Egyptian princess torn between love and patriotism.
Swedish singer Davidson will return March 25 for the stentorian vocalism demanded of Leonore in Fidelio, Beethoven’s monument to freedom and resistance against tyranny. Finnish conductor Susanna Malkki, who was only the fourth woman to lead a performance at the Met when she made her debut in 2016, will lead the revival of a staging by Jurgen Flimm.
Opera’s most famous barber, Figaro, is also on the docket. Michael Sumuel will assume the role in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on April 26, with Joana Mallwitz on the podium. On May 31, Andrey Zhilikhovsky will take on the title role in Rossini’s prequel to the events in Mozart’s work, The Barber of Seville, with Giacomo Sagripanti conducting.
Rounding out the season’s repertory is Richard Strauss’s Salome, May 17, a new production directed by Claus Guth, in which Nezet-Seguin will conduct a cast led by South African Elza van den Heever as the biblical femme fatale.
All the live Saturday performances begin at 1 p.m., except for Aida on Jan. 25, which has a 12:30 p.m. curtain. There are repeat showings of each opera four days later, except for Tosca, which will be encored on Dec. 4; and Aida, which has a second encore on Feb. 1. There is also a special encore presentation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute – a 2006 performance scheduled to be re-aired on Dec. 7.
For complete details including a list of theaters near you, check: www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/, or www.fathomevents.com.