Kelli O'Hara, Jonas Kaufmann, Joyce DiDonato Will Highlight Met Opera's 2017-18 Season

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-18 season will feature 220 performances of 26 works, including two Met premieres, one co-commissioned by the company and one an older masterpiece having its first Met performances; a variety of repertory favorites, three in new productions; and performances of Verdi's towering concert work for soloists, orchestra, and chorus, the Requiem. Of note, Broadway star Kelli O'Hara is set to return to the Met in Così fan tutte this season.

The season opens on September 25 with a new production of Bellini's Norma, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, directed by Sir David McVicar, and starring Sondra Radvanovsky, one of the world's leading interpreters of the role, opposite Joyce DiDonato as Adalgisa and Joseph Calleja as Pollione.

On October 26, composer Thomas Adès conducts the North American premiere of his The Exterminating Angel, a Met co-commission, based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza of Buñuel's 1962 absurdist film. The opera, which will be sung in English, will be staged by the librettist Tom Cairns, who is making his company debut.

A new production of Puccini's Tosca will open on New Year's Eve, with Andris Nelsons conducting Sir David McVicar's staging. Kristine Opolais stars in the title role oppositeJonas Kaufmann as her devoted lover Cavaradossi and Bryn Terfel as Scarpia. Later performances will star Anna Netrebko as the title character with Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi and Michael Volle as Scarpia.

A new staging of Così fan tutte, set in the 1950s on Coney Island, opens March 15 and is conducted by David Robertson and directed by Phelim McDermott. The new production will star an ensemble cast including Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara in her role debut as the maid Despina.

On April 12, Massenet's operatic adaptation of the Cinderella story, Cendrillon, has its Met premiere, conducted byBertrand de Billy and directed by Laurent Pelly, with Joyce DiDonato in the title role and Alice Coote as Prince Charming.

In November and December, Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine will conduct four concert performances of Verdi's Requiem, featuring soloists Krassimira Stoyanova, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, along with the Met's orchestra and chorus.

Among the season's revivals are some rarely performed stagings, including Verdi's Luisa Miller, starring Sonya Yoncheva, Piotr Beczala, and Plácido Domingo; Rossini's Semiramide, last performed at the Met in 1993, with Angela Meade in the title role; and two recent new productions having their first revivals, François Girard's staging of Wagner's Parsifal and Patrice Chéreau's celebrated production of Strauss's Elektra.

The Met: Live in HD series, which transmits Met performances to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 71 countries around the world, continues for its 12th season. Ten performances from the season will be broadcast, beginning October 7 with the new production of Norma.

For the third season in a row, ticket prices will not increase, and audience development initiatives created in recent seasons will continue to be a core part of the company's outreach strategies.

The 2017-18 season was announced by Met General Manager Peter Gelb: "We're replenishing our core repertoire with new productions of Così fan tutte, Norma, and Tosca, while stretching our horizons with The Exterminating Angel and Cendrillon," said Gelb. "It's a season of repertory favorites and stimulating rarities, with something for neophytes and aficionados alike."

Further details on new productions, repertory, special events, ticket prices and audience development initiatives, the Live in HD series, and more are available below.

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New Productions

Norma - Vincenzo Bellini OPENING NIGHT

Opening: September 25, 2017

Conductors: Carlo Rizzi / Joseph Colaneri

Production: Sir David McVicar

Set Designer: Robert Jones

Costume Designer: Moritz Junge

Lighting Designer: Paule Constable

Movement Director: Leah Hausman

Live in HD: October 7, 2017

The season opens with a new production of Bellini's Bel Canto tragedy Norma, starring Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role, which she has sung to acclaim at the Met in 2013, as well as at the Canadian Opera Company, San Francisco Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Lyric Opera of Chicago-making her one of the world's leading interpreters of the iconic title character. Joyce DiDonatoco-stars as Norma's colleague and rival, Adalgisa, opposite Joseph Calleja as Pollione and Matthew Rose as Oroveso. On October 16 and 20, Marina Rebeka will make her Met role debut as the Druid priestess, Norma. Beginning December 1, the production will star Angela Meade as Norma with Jamie Barton reprising the role of Adalgisa and led by Joseph Colaneri. Sir David McVicar directs the production, having staged seven Met productions including Verdi's Il Trovatore, Handel's Giulio Cesare, the double bill of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and Donizetti's Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, and Roberto Devereux.

The Exterminating Angel - Thomas Adès MET PREMIERE

Opening: October 26, 2017

Conductor: Thomas Adès

Libretto: Tom Cairns, in collaboration with the composer

Production: Tom Cairns

Set and Costume Designer: Hildegard Bechtler

Lighting Designer: Jon Clark

Projection Designer: Tal Yarden

Choreographer: Amir Hosseinpour

Live in HD: November 18, 2017

The Exterminating Angel has its Met premiere, conducted by the composer, Thomas Adès. The 2016 opera, co-commissioned by the Met and sung in English, is based on the screenplay by Luis Buñuel and Luis Alcoriza for the acclaimed 1962 Buñuel film. Directed by the librettist Tom Cairns, the ensemble cast features Audrey Luna as Leticia Maynar; Amanda Echalaz as Lucia de Nobile; Sally Matthewsas Silvia de Ávila and Sophie Bevan as Beatriz, both in Met debuts; Alice Coote as Leonora Palma; Christine Rice as Blanca Delgado; Iestyn Davies as Francisco de Ávila; Joseph Kaiser as Edundo de Nobile;Frédéric Antoun in his Met debut as Raúl Yebenes; David Portillo as Edmundo; David Adam Moore in his Met debut as Col. Álvaro Gómez; Rod Gilfry as Alberto Roc; Kevin Burdette as Señor Russell;Christian Van Horn as Julio; and John Tomlinson as Dr Carlos Conde. The Exterminating Angel is a co-commission and co-production with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Royal Danish Theatre; and Salzburg Festival, where the production premiered in 2016.

Tosca - Giacomo Puccini NEW YEAR'S EVE GALA

Opening: December 31, 2017

Conductor: Andris Nelsons / Bertrand de Billy

Production: Sir David McVicar

Set and Costume Designer: John MacFarlane

Lighting Designer: David Finn

Movement Director: Leah Hausman

Live in HD: January 27, 2018

Andris Nelsons conducts a new staging of Puccini's dramatic tragedy, directed by Sir David McVicar. Kristine Opolais and Jonas Kaufmann star as the heroine Tosca and her lover Cavaradossi, withBryn Terfel as the villainous Scarpia. In April, Anna Netrebko adds a new role to her Met repertory as the title diva, opposite Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradossi. Michael Volle and George Gagnidze share the role of Scarpia during April and May performances with Bertrand de Billy conducting.

Così fan tutte - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Opening: March 15, 2018

Conductor: David Robertson

Production: Phelim McDermott

Set Designer: Tom Pye

Costume Designer: Laura Hopkins

Lighting Designer: Paule Constable

Live in HD: March 31, 2018

Phelim McDermott returns to the Met with a new staging of Mozart's comedy Così fan tutte, led by David Robertson. The production, set in Coney Island during the 1950s, features Amanda Majeskiand Serena Malfi as the conflicted sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella; Tony Award winner Kelli O'Hara as their feisty maid, Despina; Ben Bliss and Adam Plachetka as the sisters' fiancés, Ferrando and Guglielmo; and Christopher Maltman as the cynical Don Alfonso. Così fan tutte is a co-production with the English National Opera, where this staging premiered in 2014, in collaboration with Improbable.

Cendrillon - Jules Massenet MET PREMIERE

Opening: April 12, 2018

Conductor: Bertrand de Billy

Production: Laurent Pelly

Set Designer: Barbara de Limburg

Costume Designer: Laurent Pelly

Lighting Designer: Duane Schuler

Choreographer: Laura Scozzi

Live in HD: April 28, 2018

Massenet's enchanting opera Cendrillon, based on the Cinderella story, premieres at the Met conducted by Bertrand de Billy in a staging by Laurent Pelly, whose Met credits include staging Donizetti'sLa Fille du Régiment and Massenet's Manon. Joyce DiDonato stars as the title character, a role she has sung to acclaim at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, The Santa Fe Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. The cast also features Kathleen Kim as the Fairy Godmother, Alice Coote as Prince Charming, Stephanie Blythe as the evil stepmother Madame de la Haltière, and Laurent Naouri as Pandolfe. Cendrillon is produced in association with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London; Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona; Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie, Brussels; and Opéra de Lille. This production was first performed at The Santa Fe Opera in 2006.

Requiem - Giuseppe Verdi CONCERT

Opening: November 24, 2017

Conductor: James Levine

Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine will conduct four concert performances of Verdi's Requiem, a powerful meditation on death, featuring soloists Krassimira Stoyanova, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, along with the Met's orchestra and chorus.

Noteworthy Met Debuts

Notable Met debuts this season include Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught as Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann (September 26); South African soprano Golda Schultz as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte(September 27); British conductor Alexander Soddy leading La Bohème (October 2); American soprano Angel Blue as Mimì in La Bohème (October 2); British soprano Sally Matthews as Silvia de Ávila in The Exterminating Angel (October 26): Italian conductor Jader Bignamini leading Madama Butterfly (November 2); German soprano Christiane Karg as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (December 6); American conductor Ward Stare leading The Merry Widow (December 14); Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan leading L'Elisir d'Amore (January 16); Italian baritone Davide Luciano as Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore(January 16); German soprano Evelyn Herlitzius as Kundry in Parsifal (February 5); German mezzo-soprano Michaela Schuster as Klytämnestra in Elektra (March 1); and Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov as Walter in Luisa Miller (March 29).

In addition, Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinyt?-Tyla makes her first Met appearance, leading the MET Orchestra in a Carnegie Hall concert on May 18.

Repertory Highlights

The 2017-18 season will feature 20 revivals of works by 14 composers starring many of the world's leading opera singers and conductors.

Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducts Mozart's opera, Die Zauberflöte, sung in full-length performances in its original German. The cast features Golda Schultz as Pamina, Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, Charles Castronovo as Tamino, Markus Werba as Papageno, Christian Van Horn as Sprecher, and Tobias Kehrer as Sarastro.

Il Trovatore, also conducted by Levine, stars Maria Agresta as Leonora, Anita Rachvelishvili as Azucena, YongHoon Lee as Manrico, Quinn Kelsey and Luca Salsi as Count di Luna, and Štefan Kocánand Kwangchul Youn as Ferrando.

Levine also conducts a rare revival of Luisa Miller, which has not been seen at the Met since 2006. Sonya Yoncheva sings the title role, opposite Piotr Beczala as Luisa's lover Rodolfo, in the story of a young woman who sacrifices her own happiness in an attempt to save her father's life. The cast also includes Plácido Domingo as Luisa's father Miller with Olesya Petrova as Federica, and Alexander Vinogradov and Dmitry Belosselskiy as Walter and Wurm, the ruthless men determined to tear Luisa and Rodolfo apart.

Met Music Director Designate Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts a revival of Parsifal, starring Klaus Florian Vogt in the title role, with Evelyn Herlitzius as Kundry, Peter Mattei as Amfortas, Evgeny Nikitin as Klingsor, and René Pape as Gurnemanz.

In March, Nézet-Séguin returns to the Met to conduct Elektra starring Christine Goerke in the title role, with Elza van den Heever as Chrysothemis, Michaela Schuster as Klytämnestra, Jay Hunter Morris as Aegisth, and Mikhail Petrenko as Orest.

Rossini's rarity set in ancient Babylon, Semiramide, which has not been seen at the Met in 25 years, will be conducted by Maurizio Benini and feature Angela Meade in the title role, with Elizabeth DeShong as Arsace, Javier Camarena as Idreno, Ildar Abdrazakov as Assur, and Ryan Speedo Green as Oroe.

Ailyn Pérez stars in her role debut as the title character in Thaïs opposite Gerald Finley as Athanaël, with Jean-François Borras as Nicias and David Pittsinger as Palémon. The performances will be conducted by EmManuel Villaume.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann, conducted by Johannes Debus, stars Vittorio Grigolo as Hoffmann with Erin Morley as Olympia, Anita Hartig as Antonia/Stella, Oksana Volkova as Giulietta, Tara Erraught as Nicklausse/The Muse, Laurent Naouri as the Four Villains, and Christophe Mortagne as the Four Servants.

Three Puccini revivals will be presented in the 2017-18 season. La Bohème stars Angel Blue as Mimì, opposite Dmytro Popov as Rodolfo with Brigitta Kele as Musetta and Lucas Meachem as Marcello. Later performances star Anita Hartig and Sonya Yoncheva as Mimì; Jean-François Borras, Russell Thomas, and Michael Fabiano as Rodolfo; and Michael Todd Simpson as Marcello. The opera will be conducted by Alexander Soddy and Marco Armiliato.

Madama Butterfly stars Hui He and Ermonela Jaho as Cio-Cio-San with Maria Zifchak as Suzuki, Roberto Aronica and Luis Chapa as Pinkerton, and David Bizic, DWayne Croft, and Roberto Frontali as Sharpless. Jader Bignamini and Marco Armiliato conduct all performances.

Turandot features Oksana Dyka and Martina Serafin sharing the title role of the icy princess, with Maria Agresta, Hei-Kyung Hong, and Guanqun Yu as Liù. Marcelo Álvarez reprises the role of Calàf, and James Morris and Alexander Tsymbalyuk share the role of Timur.

Le Nozze di Figaro stars Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Sonya Yoncheva as the Countess, Christiane Karg and Nadine Sierra as Susanna, Serena Malfi and Isabel Leonard as Cherubino, Luca Pisaroniand Mariusz Kwiecien as the Count, and Adam Plachetka and Ildar Abdrazakov as the title character. Harry Bicket conducts all performances.

Susan Graham reprises Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow conducted by Ward Stare. The cast also includes Andriana Chuchman as Valencienne, Paul Groves as Danilo, David Portillo as Camille de Rosillon, and Thomas Allen as Baron Mirko Zeta.

The double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci is conducted by Nicola Luisotti, which features Roberto Alagna in the leading tenor roles of Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Canio inPagliacci. Cavalleria Rusticana also features Ekaterina Semenchuk and Eva-Maria Westbroek as Santuzza, and Željko Lu?i? as Alfio. Pagliacci stars Aleksandra Kurzak as Nedda, George Gagnidze as Tonio, and Alessio Arduini as Silvio.

Pretty Yende and Matthew Polenzani star as the spirited Adina and Nemorino, the simple peasant who falls in love with her, in L'Elisir d'Amore, which also stars Davide Luciano as Belcore andIldebrando D'Arcangelo as Dulcamara. All performances are conducted by Domingo Hindoyan.

Lucia di Lammermoor returns to the Met starring Olga Peretyatko, Jessica Pratt, and Pretty Yende in the title role. Vittorio Grigolo and Michael Fabiano share the role of Edgardo with Massimo Cavalletti, Luca Salsi, and Quinn Kelsey as Enrico and Vitalij Kowaljow and Alexander Vinogradov as Raimondo. Roberto Abbado conducts all performances.

Ailyn Pérez and Bryan Hymel star as the doomed lovers in Roméo et Juliette with Joshua Hopkins as Mercutio and Kwangchul Youn as Frère Laurent. Plácido Domingo conducts all performances.

Holiday Presentations

The Met will stage two holiday presentations during the 2017-18 season: Julie Taymor's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Richard Jones's staging of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Continuing a tradition that began in 2006, the English-language, abridged performances, designed to make the opera more accessible, will be sold at reduced ticket prices for both operas.

The cast of The Magic Flute includes Hanna-Elisabeth Müller as Pamina, Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, Charles Castronovo as Tamino, Nathan Gunn as Papageno, AlFRed Walker as the Speaker, and Tobias Kehrer as Sarastro. Edo de Waart will conduct the performances beginning November 25.

The cast of Hansel and Gretel features Lisette Oropesa as Gretel, Tara Erraught as Hansel, Dolora Zajick as Gertrude, Gerhard Siegel as the Witch, and Quinn Kelsey as Peter. Donald Runnicles will conduct the performances opening on December 18.

For the past two years, the Met has hosted an Open House for families, attracting hundreds of young audience members for behind-the-scenes displays and demonstrations by members of the Met's backstage staff. This season, the Met will offer an Open House before the matinee performance of Hansel and Gretel on Thursday, December 28.

Ticket Information and Audience Development Initiatives

Ticket prices will not increase in 2017-18, remaining the same as in the two previous seasons. Prices will once again range from $25 to $480 for the 3,800 seats in the opera house. Approximately 40 percent of Met tickets will cost less than $100 and 58 percent will cost less than $150.

Subscriptions for the 2017-18 season are available now, and single tickets will go on sale to the general public on June 25, 2017. Subscription tickets will be significantly less expensive than single tickets, with a discount of 15% versus single-sale prices. This year, the company will once again offer advance exchange privileges to subscribers. Other subscriber benefits introduced in recent seasons, including the elimination of exchange fees, will continue in the coming season.

Any audience member who purchases tickets to five or more performances will receive a discount of 10 percent on their order. This applies to "Create Your Own" subscription purchasers and to regular subscribers who add on single tickets to their subscription packages.

The Rush Tickets program will return in 2017-18, making more than 30,000 $25 tickets available to the general public. Rush Tickets can be purchased on a first-come first-serve basis by logging on to metopera.org at 12 p.m. for weekday performances, 2 p.m. for Saturday evening performances, and 4 hours before curtain for matinee performances.

The Met Opera Students program will return in 2017-18, offering $35 tickets to many operas to student members of the program. The Students program will also offer invitations to artist lectures, discounts at the Met Opera Shop, and the opportunity to meet other opera lovers at special student events.

The "Fridays Under 40" audience development program will continue for a third season. Participants will enjoy discounted tickets and themed receptions before performances of Les Contes d'Hoffmann(October 13), The Exterminating Angel (November 3), Madama Butterfly (November 17), Le Nozze di Figaro (December 15), The Merry Widow (January 5), Il Trovatore (January 26), La Bohème (February 16),Elektra (March 9), Lucia di Lammermoor (March 30), and Così fan tutte (April 13). Fridays Under 40 tickets will go on sale June 25, 2017.

Front of House

The lobby of the Metropolitan Opera House will continue to be open to the public, free of charge, on weekday mornings (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Sundays (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) beginning Tuesday, September 26 and continuing through the end of the opera season; on Saturdays, the house is open only to ticket holders for one of the day's two performances.

Visitors coming to the Met can walk up the famous grand staircase of the opera house, admire the iconic crystal chandeliers, or step out onto the balcony overlooking Lincoln Center Plaza. Personal photography will be permitted in all public areas of the house, allowing tourists or locals to capture a picture of a classic New York moment. In addition, a large television monitor will give visitors a live look at what's happening on the Met stage, where rehearsals happen every morning for the 220 opera performances the company presents each season. Refreshments will be available for purchase.

During the opera season, the Grand Tier Restaurant will be open for brunch service on Sundays between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Reservations can be made by calling (212) 799-3400 or visiting metopera.org. In addition, brunch patrons can enjoy a free 20-minute recital by a member of the Met's acclaimed Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at 12:15 and 1:30 p.m. each Sunday.

Live Simulcasts and Summer Events

In keeping with a tradition begun on Opening Night in 2006, the September 25 season premiere performance of Norma will be transmitted live to numerous large screens in Times Square. The Times Square relay of the Opening Night Gala is presented in cooperation with the City of New York and Times Square Arts. The live transmission to Times Square is made possible with the cooperation of the City of New York, with leadership support provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Additional funding is provided by the Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News. This program is also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, Art Works, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

In Summer 2017, the Met's two free summer series will return. The Summer Recital Series will again present Met artists in recital in each of the five boroughs, and the Summer HD Festival will show operas from the Live in HD series on a large screen at Lincoln Center Plaza to an audience of approximately 3,000 people per night. Together, the Met's summer programs are expected to allow approximately 50,000 New Yorkers to experience the Met for free.

The Met: Live in HD 2017-18

The 2017-18 season of The Met: Live in HD will kick off October 7 with Norma. The series will continue with Die Zauberflöte (October 14), The Exterminating Angel (November 18), Tosca (January 27),L'Elisir d'Amore (February 10), La Bohème (February 24), Semiramide (March 10), Così fan tutte (March 31), Luisa Miller (April 14), and Cendrillon (April 28).

The Met's groundbreaking series launched in 2006 and quickly established the company as the world's leading alternative cinema content provider. More than 21 million tickets have been sold since the series' inception, and the series currently reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 71 countries around the world.

Tickets for the 10 transmissions in the 2017-18 Live in HD season will go on sale July 19, 2017 in the U.S. and Canada, with Met Members offered priority before tickets are made available to the general public. International ticket sales dates and details on ordering tickets for the 2017-18 Live in HD series vary from country to country and will be announced separately by individual distributors.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Global sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline Desmarais, in memory of Paul G. Desmarais Sr.

Within months of their initial live transmissions, the Live in HD programs are shown on PBS. The PBS series, Great Performances at the Met, is produced in association with PBS and WNET, with support from Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder®. Additional funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Met: HD Live in Schools

The Met's HD Live in Schools program will continue for its 11th season, partnering with 45 school districts across the country to bring the Met's live HD transmissions to students and teachers. This season, Die Zauberflöte, Tosca, L'Elisir d'Amore, Così fan tutte, and Cendrillon will be included in the program. The Met's HD education program includes backstage visits for students, who learn how costumes and scenery are constructed; Q&As with artists; access to final dress rehearsals; in-school workshops; and teacher training workshops. Program and curriculum guides are created for in-school use in conjunction with HD screenings. HD Live in Schools is generously supported by Bank of America, with program support provided through a partnership with the New York City Department of Education.

The MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

The MET Orchestra continues its highly acclaimed annual series for three performances at Carnegie Hall in 2017-18. On May 18, 2018, the orchestra will perform Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 with Mirga Gražinyt?-Tyla leading the orchestra in her Carnegie Hall debut, featuring mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili.

On May 30, soloist James Ehnes will join Gianandrea Noseda and the MET orchestra for Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 and Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

The series will conclude June 5 with Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine conducting the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen's Eros and Nemesis in a program that also includes Brahms's Symphony No. 4.

For tickets and additional information on the MET Orchestra concerts at Carnegie Hall, the public may visit www.carnegiehall.org or call (212) 247-7800.

The Met/LCT New Works Program

The Met/LCT New Works Program continues to develop pieces for the opera and music theater stages. Ricky Ian Gordon, whose works 27 and A Coffin in Egypt received their New York premieres in the past year, is continuing work on Intimate Apparel, which Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage has adapted from her play about an African-American seamstress in turn-of-the-century New York. Jeanine Tesori, a Tony winner for her musical Fun Home, is working with George Brant, who will adapt his play Grounded, about a female F16 fighter pilot reassigned to drone duty. Matthew Aucoin is working with playwrightSarah Ruhl on an adaptation of her play Eurydice, her take on the Orpheus myth. Aucoin has explored his fascination with the Orpheus myth in his dramatic cantata The Orphic Moment, which recently received its Salzburg premiere. David T. Little is developing an original idea with librettist Royce Vavrek, with whom he created the operas Dog Days and JFK, which premiered at Fort Worth Opera last year. Joshua Schmidt and librettist Dick Scanlan are continuing work on a project focusing on the creation of Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" house for 1930's department store magnate Edgar Kaufmann.

The Met/LCT New Works Program is funded by a generous gift to the Met from the Francis Goelet Charitable Trusts.

The Met on the Radio and the Web

The Met's 87th consecutive Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcast season kicks off on December 2 with a live broadcast of Verdi's Requiem and continues through the May 5 matinee of Roméo et Juliette. The broadcast season will once again be heard live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Mary Jo Heath returns for her third season as host and Ira Siff returns for his 11th season as commentator for the broadcasts, which feature a range of dynamic intermission features, live backstage interviews with artists, and the ever-popular Opera Quiz. The 2017-18 Metropolitan Opera Saturdaymatinee radio broadcast season will be sponsored by Toll Brothers, America's luxury homebuilder®, with generous long-term support from The Annenberg Foundation, The Neubauer Family Foundation, and the Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for Broadcast Media, and through contributions from listeners worldwide.

Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 74 will present its 11th season as the country's premier subscription radio channel dedicated to opera. Up to three live performances will be broadcast each week during the season, hosted by Mary Jo Heath with commentator William Berger, as well as historic broadcasts from the Met's vast collection. The channel also features lively interviews and previews of upcoming Met performances. The live broadcast season begins with the Met's Opening Night performance of Norma on September 25. Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM is available to subscribers in the United States and Canada.

The Met will continue to stream one live performance per week during the 2017-18 season on its website at metopera.org.

Media Releases

The Met will continue to release performances from its vast archive of current and historic performances on CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital platforms in the 2017-18 season, with the trademark artistic and production quality that has earned the company three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording.

More than 70 titles are currently available for purchase through the iTunes store iTunes.com/metopera, including Live in HD and standard definition video performances, audio performances, and ringtones, with additional titles added throughout the year.

Met Opera on Demand

The Met's exclusive streaming service now features more than 600 full-length Met performances, available worldwide on a growing number of platforms that now includes computers; Roku devices; Apple TV via Airplay; iPad; Android devices; and Samsung Smart TVs. The Met Opera on Demand library includes 100 presentations from the Live in HD series, as well as hundreds of telecasts and radio broadcasts dating back to 1935.

Met Opera on Demand: Student Access allows university and college libraries to make this digital resource from the Met accessible to their student populations. Now in its fourth year, Student Access is currently available more than 100 schools around the world.