For the first time since 2002, the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra will go on tour in 2021. Led by its new conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the group will perform in London, Paris and Baden-Baden.
This had not happened for almost 20 years. Apart from the concerts given each year at Carnegie Hall, the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra had not left Lincoln Center since 2002. The arrival of Yannick View-Séguin at the head of the American formation in 2018 allowed to bring a new breath since a European tour will be organized in the summer of 2021.
The Canadian maestro will take his orchestra on June 29 to the Barbican Center in London, to the Philharmonie de Paris on June 30 and July 1 and to the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany on July 3 and 4. ” This series of concerts will show the full potential of the Met Orchestra under the direction of Yannick, both in the symphonic and lyrical repertoire. », Commented in a press release Peter Yellow, the director of the New York opera house.
On the tour program, Berlioz with the Fantastic symphony and extracts from Trojans with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. In Paris and Baden-Baden, the Met Orchestra will also play Don Juan, the symphonic poem by Richard Strauss as well as the first act of The Valkyrie by Wagner with Christine Goerke, Brandon Jovanovich and Günther Groissböck.
« It is important to go and play abroad for the artistic development of the orchestra, said Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the same press release. During my career, I spent a lot of time in Europe. So I know the Met Orchestra has a unique musical voice that should be heard in these great European capitals. ».
The conductor added that this tour was a ” milestone in recent Met history “While saying” proud that the Met continues to reach audiences beyond Lincoln Center. This European tour is the perfect cornerstone of the next season ».