Metropolitan Opera to Present Company Premiere of Matthew Aucoin's EURYDICE

On November 23, the Metropolitan Opera will present the company premiere of Eurydice, a new Met-commissioned opera by Matthew Aucoin-at 31, the youngest composer to have a Met premiere since 1938. Eurydice is one of three contemporary works to have premieres in the 2021-22 season, the greatest number of new operas to premiere in a single Met season since 1928-29. The run includes seven performances through December 16. With a libretto by Sarah Ruhl, based on her acclaimed 2003 play, the opera reimagines the ancient Greek Orpheus myth by telling the story from Eurydice's perspective. Mary Zimmerman directs an evocative new staging, with Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium and soprano Erin Morley starring in the title role. Baritone Joshua Hopkins is Orpheus, and countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński and bass-baritone Nathan Berg make their Met debuts as Orpheus's otherworldly alter-ego and Eurydice's father, respectively. Tenor Barry Banks sings the role of Hades. Also in their Met debuts, countertenor John Holiday sings the role of Orpheus's Double for the December 11 and 16 performances, and conductor Daniela Candillari leads the December 8 performance.

Eurydice is a co-production of the Metropolitan Opera and LA Opera. The creative team includes set designer Daniel Ostling, costume designer Ana Kuzmanic, lighting designer T.J. Gerckens, projection designer S. Katy Tucker, and choreographer Denis Jones.

Eurydice Worldwide Broadcasts in Cinema, Radio, and Online

The performance of Eurydice on Saturday, December 4, will be transmitted live to cinemas around the globe as part of The Met: Live in HD series. The December 4 performance will also be the first Saturday Matinee Radio Broadcast of the 2021-22 season, which will be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

The November 23 performance of Eurydice will be broadcast live on Met Opera Radio on Sirius XM Channel 355, and audio will also be streamed live on the Met's website, metopera.org.

American Opera at the Met Exhibition

Coinciding with the Met premiere of Eurydice, the company presents American Opera at the Met, an exhibition currently on display in Founders Hall and throughout the opera house. The exhibition chronicles the history of homegrown opera at the Met, from the company's early efforts to develop an American repertoire at the beginning of the 20th century to the resurgence of American works in recent years through the Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program and other initiatives. The Met's 2021-22 season features a record four operas by American composers: Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, Matthew Aucoin's Eurydice, and Philip Glass's Akhnaten.

For more information and to view the exhibition online, please click here.

Photo credit: Paola Kudacki

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