The Met: Live In HD 2023–24 Season Continues With FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONA

The Metropolitan Opera's 2023–24 Live in HD season continues with the live transmission of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, the first Spanish-language opera to be performed at the Met in nearly a century, on Saturday, December 9, at 12:55PM ET. This is also the first opera by a Mexican composer to be presented by the company. With a majority Latinx cast led by celebrated Mexican-American soprano Ailyn Pérez, the premiere of Florencia marks an unprecedented Latin American cultural and artistic moment for the Met.

Inspired by the magical realism of novelist Gabriel García Márquez, with a libretto by Mexican writer Marcela Fuentes-Berain, Catán's 1996 opera follows Florencia Grimaldi, a South American opera diva who returns to her homeland to perform at the legendary opera house of Manaus and to search for her lost lover, who has vanished into the jungle. Led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, the cast stars Pérez in the title role and features a distinguished ensemble of singers portraying the diva's fellow travelers on the riverboat to Manaus—soprano Gabriella Reyes as the journalist Rosalba, bass-baritone Greer Grimsley as the ship's captain, baritone Mattia Olivieri as his enigmatic first mate, tenor Mario Chang as the captain's nephew Arcadio, and mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and baritone Michael Chioldi as the feuding couple Paula and Alvaro.

The new production by award-winning director Mary Zimmerman brings the mysterious and magical realm of the Amazon to the Met stage. The creative team includes Havana-born, Buenos Aires–raised set designer Riccardo Hernández in his Met debut, with costume designer Ana Kuzmanić, lighting designer T.J. Gerckens, projection designer S. Katy Tucker, and choreographer Alex Sanchez.

Gary Halvorson will direct the Live in HD presentation for cinemas, with critically acclaimed Mexican tenor, theater director, and artistic director Rolando Villazón serving as host. He will provide exclusive behind-the-scenes access and conduct interviews with the cast and creative team during intermission.

The Stars of Florencia en el Amazonas

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Montreal, Canada

Ailyn Pérez, Florencia Grimaldi; Chicago, Illinois

Gabriella Reyes, Rosalba; Meriden, Connecticut

Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Paula; Canary Islands, Spain

Mario Chang, Arcadio; Guatemala City, Guatemala

Mattia Olivieri, Riolobo; Sassuolo, Italy

Michael Chioldi, Alvaro; Latrobe, Pennsylvania

Greer Grimsley, Captain; New Orleans, Louisiana

For further details on Florencia en el Amazonas, please click here.

The 2023–24 Live in HD season continues with Nabucco (January 6), Carmen (January 27), La Forza del Destino (March 9), Roméo et Juliette (March 23), La Rondine (April 20), and Madama Butterfly (May 11). All performances will be Saturday matinees transmitted live from the Met stage. An encore screening of Mozart's The Magic Flute from 2006 will also be presented in select venues on December 2, with dates varying internationally. 

Photo credit: Ken Howard / Met Opera

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