Tenor Jonathan Tetelman to Make Met Debut in The Met: Live in HD - LA RONDINE

Puccini’s passionate love story La Rondine will make a rare appearance in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2023–24 Live in HD season, transmitted live on Saturday, April 20, at 12:55PM ET. American soprano Angel Blue stars as the French courtesan Magda, opposite Chilean-born tenor Jonathan Tetelman in his Met debut as Ruggero. Of her opening night performance, the Financial Times noted that “Angel Blue’s luscious soprano ennobles Puccini rarity.” Blue returns following her critically acclaimed performances as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen earlier this season. Tetelman, honored as Opus Klassik Award’s 2023 Break-Out Artist of the Year, has been recognized for his portrayals of Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata and Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème at Covent Garden, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the Semperoper Dresden, and Loris Ipanoff in Giordano’s Fedora at Oper Frankfurt. He will also sing Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly when the title is transmitted live to cinemas worldwide on Saturday, May 11, opposite Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian in her Met debut.
 
Also making their Met debuts in La Rondine are American soprano Emily Pogorelc and tenor Bekhzod Davronov, hailing from Uzbekistan, as Lisette and Prunier. 
 
Maestro Speranza Scappucci, who made history as the first-ever Italian woman to conduct at La Scala and made her Met debut last season, returns to lead the Met Orchestra and the cast. Nicolas Joël’s Art Deco–inspired staging transports audiences from the heart of 1920s Parisian nightlife to a dreamy vision of the French Riviera. The creative team includes set designer Ezio Frigerio, costume designer Franca Squarciapino, and lighting designer Duane Schuler.
 
La Rondine was first performed at the Met on March 10, 1928. The opera has only been performed a total of 33 times on the Met stage prior to this season and was last performed in 2013.
 
The Stars of La Rondine: 

Speranza Scappucci, conductor; Rome, Italy
Angel Blue, Magda; Los Angeles, California
Emily Pogorelc, Lisette; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jonathan Tetelman, Ruggero; Castro, Chile
Bekhzod Davronov, Prunier; Samarkand, Uzbekistan
 
The 2023–24 Live in HD season concludes with a live transmission of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on May 11. The 2024–25 season will feature eight operas, kicking off on October 5 with a live presentation of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

Photo credit: Karen Almond / Met Opera