The New York Metropolitan Opera (Met Opera) announced a markedly contemporary programming that reflects its search for new audiences with new works that address racial issues and with the incursion of Spanish for the first time in almost a century.
The institution, which is trying to modernize itself to overcome its economic crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic, proposes for the 2023-2024 season a repertoire in which a third of the operas are recent with the aim of attracting “younger audiences and diverse,” according to a statement.
The opening of the season will be on September 26 with “Dead Man Walking”, by Jake Heggie, the most popular contemporary work of the last two decades, with a reinterpretation of Ivo van Hove that was not presented in 2020 due to the suspension of cultural activities due to the pandemic.
Among the new works is also “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X”, by Anthony David, about the story of the murdered black activist and starring baritone Will Liverman, who has already triumphed in another opera on racial themes, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones”, also included in the season for its success.
And one of the star pieces, especially for the Spanish-speaking public, will be the well-known opera “Florencia en el Amazonas”, by Daniel Catán, in the new production by Mary Zimmerman with the sopranos Ailyn Pérez and Gabriella Reyes in the central roles.
The selection of six new works is completed by “El Niño”, reinterpreted by director Lileana Blan-Cruz, and the acclaimed “Fire Shut Up in My Bones”, by Terence Blanchard, and “The Hours”, by Kevin Put, which had a great reception among the new generations that the institution seeks.
“The future of opera rests on a readjustment between the classics and the new works with which people can feel identified,” said Peter Gelb, its main manager, in the note, who assured that they are also covering “the needs of opera lovers” of a lifetime.
In this sense, the program includes classics such as “Carmen”, by Bizet, and “La Forza del Destino”, by Verdi, as well as re-releases of other pieces by Verdi such as “Nabucco”; “Madame Butterfly” by Puccini; “Romeo and Juliet”, by Gounod, and “The Magic Flute”, by Mozart, for the Christmas season.
