Julie Taymor's Production of Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE Opens Met 2017 Holiday Season

Julie Taymor's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, with performances from November 25 to December 9, is the first of two holiday presentations at the Met this season. Continuing a tradition inaugurated in 2006, the Met offers English-language, abridged performances geared towards families, with special discount pricing. Richard Jones's staging of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel is the second holiday presentation, with performances from December 18 through January 6.

The Magic Flute stars Hanna-Elisabeth Müller as Pamina, Nathan Gunn as Papageno, and Alfred Walker as the Speaker. Three singers reprise their roles from the full-length performances in German earlier this season: Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, Charles Castronovo as Tamino, and Tobias Kehrer as Sarastro. Evan Rogister makes his Met debut conducting all five performances,.

Hanna-Elisabeth Müller adds a new role to her Met repertory as Pamina after making her company debut last season as Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio. As a member of the Bavarian State Opera, she has sung Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, as well as other Mozart roles including Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Kathryn Lewek has sung the Queen of the Night in the Met's abridged, English-language presentation of the opera, as well as the full-length German opera. She has also sung the role with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Kansas City Opera, Washington National Opera, and Bregenz Festival.

Charles Castronovo has previously sung Tamino earlier this season with the company in Die Zauberflöte, as well as Santa Fe Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Ravinia Festival. As a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he made his company debut singing Bepe in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, in addition to singing Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème with the company.

Nathan Gunn has sung 30 performances as Papageno in both the holiday presentations and the full-length German opera with the company. To date, he has sung over 140 performances at the Met, most recently as Danilo in Lehár's The Merry Widow, the title role of Britten's Billy Budd, and Raimbaud in Rossini's Comte Ory.

Alfred Walker adds a new role to his Met repertory as the Speaker. Most recently, he sang Parsi Rustomji in Philip Glass' Satyagraha and the Commissioner in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Met, and later this season, he will sing Titurel in Wagner's Parsifal with the company.

Tobias Kehrer has previously sung Sarastro at the Met and Deutsche Oper Berlin. He is a member of the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin where his other roles have included Colline in La Bohème, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen, Titurel in Parsifal, Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto, and Narbal in Berlioz's Les Troyens.

Evan Rogister makes his company debut conducting The Magic Flute. From 2009-11, the German conductor was the Kapellmeister at Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he led The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, Carmen, and Puccini's Manon Lescaut. He has conducted at many other opera houses including Royal Swedish Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, LA Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, and Houston Grand Opera.

The Met will offer two holiday presentations this November through January with special discounted pricing. The first holiday presentation for families, The Magic Flute, will run throughout November and December, followed by the second holiday presentation geared toward families: Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Performances of Hansel and Gretel begin December 18 and run through January 6.

On Thursday, December 28, all ticket holders for the matinee performances are invited to a free pre-performance open house event held on the Grand Tier level of the Met lobby beginning at 11:00 a.m. Met artists and craftspeople will lead a variety of hands-on activities and demonstrations designed for families with children, including a "dress-up" station featuring child-friendly costume pieces; an instrument show-and-tell with members of the orchestra; a live demonstration by the Met scenic artists, who create props and set elements for all of the company's productions; and a lighting display by the Met's electrics department.

The November 30 performance of The Magic Flute will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 75 also be streamed live on the Met's website, www.metopera.org.

The December 9 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For more information on The Magic Flute including casting by date, please click here.

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