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PAN PIPES • FALL 2015 • sai-national.org 12 adding another Wagner heroine to her Met repertoire aer her acclaimed Sieglinde in the "Ring" a few seasons ago. On the heels of his recent triumph in Parsifal, Peter Mattei sings Wolfram, and Michelle DeYoung is the love goddess, Venus. LULU Nov. 21, 2015 Acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge (e Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to Berg's notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including her own. Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands of Met Music Director James Levine. Soprano Marlis Petersen has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de- force title role, a wild journey of love, obsession, and death. Susan Graham joins a winning cast, including Daniel Brenna and Johan Reuter. THE MAGIC FLUTE Dec. 12, 2015 In celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the Live in HD series, there will be a special encore showing of the first in-theatre event from 2006. LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES Jan. 16, 2016 Bizet's gorgeous opera of lust and longing set in the Far East returns to the Met stage for the first time in 100 years. Soprano Diana Damrau stars as Leïla, the beautiful Hindu priestess pursued by rival pearl divers competing for her hand. Her suitors are tenor Matthew Polenzani and baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, who sing the lilting duet "Au fond du temple saint," which opera fans know and adore. Director Penny Woolcock explores the timeless themes of pure love, betrayal, and vengeance in a production that vividly creates an undersea world on the stage of the Met. Conductor Gianandrea Noseda brings his romantic flair to the lush score from the composer of Carmen. TURANDOT Jan. 30, 2016 Nina Stemme stars in the title role of the proud princess of ancient China, whose riddles doom every suitor who seeks her hand. Tenor Marco Berti is Calàf, the brave prince who sings "Nessun dorma," and wins her love. Franco Zeffirelli's golden production is conducted by Paolo Carignani. MANON LESCAUT March 5, 2016 e Met stage ignites when soprano Kristine Opolais and tenor Jonas Kaufmann join forces in Puccini's obsessive love story. Opolais sings the title role of the country girl who transforms herself into a Parisian temptress, while Kaufmann is the dashing student who desperately woos her. Director Richard Eyre places the action in occupied France in a film noir setting. "Desperate passion" is the phrase Puccini himself used to describe the opera that confirmed his position as the preeminent Italian opera composer of his day. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the stirring score. MADAMA BUTTERFLY April 2, 2016 Anthony Minghella's breathtaking production has thrilled audiences ever since its premiere in 2006. One of the world's foremost Butterflies, sopranos Kristine Opolais, stars in the title role. Tenor Roberto Alagna sings Pinkerton, the naval officer who breaks Butterfly's heart. Karel Mark Chichon conducts. ROBERTO DEVEREUX April 16, 2016 Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky takes on the extraordinary challenge of singing all three of Donizetti's Tudor queens in the course of a single season, a rare feat made famous by SAI Honorary Member Beverly Sills — and not attempted on a New York stage since. In this climactic opera of the trilogy, she plays Queen Elizabeth I, forced to sign the death warrant of the nobleman she loves, Roberto Devereux. Tenor Matthew Polenzani is Devereux, and mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča and baritone Mariusz Kwiecien complete the principal quartet in the bel canto masterpiece, conducted by Donizetti specialist Maurizio Benini. As with the earlier Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda, the production is by Sir David McVicar, who with this staging completes an enormously ambitious directorial accomplishment. ELEKTRA April 30, 2016 Director Patrice Chéreau (From the House of the Dead) didn't live to see his great Elektra production, previously presented in Aix and Milan, make it to the stage of the Met. But his overpowering vision lives on with soprano Nina Stemme — unmatched today in the heroic female roles of Strauss and Wagner — who portrays Elektra's primal quest for vengeance for the murder of her father, Agamemnon. Legendary mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier is chilling as Elektra's fearsome mother, Klytämnestra. Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka and bass-baritone Eric Owens are Elektra's troubled siblings. Chéreau's musical collaborator Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Strauss's mighty take on Greek myth. — metopera.org FOR MORE INFORMATION on the Metropolitan Opera, visit metopera.org STAGE AND SCREEN Marty Sohl, Met Opera The season will include a special encore of 2006's The Magic Flute, directed by Julie Taymor.

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