Star soprano Anna Netrebko created a sensation in her first Met performances as the malevolent Lady Macbeth, the central character in Verdi’s retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy. She is joined by Željko Lucic, who brings dramatic intensity and vocal authority to the title role of the honest general driven to murder and deceit by his ambitious wife. René Pape is Banquo, Joseph Calleja is Macduff, and Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi presides over Adrian Noble’s atmospheric production.

Verdi: Macbeth

Met audiences were fascinated by Mariusz Treliński’s gripping, visionary production of Wagner’s epic opera. In the daunting title roles of the doomed lovers, Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton are passionate, overwhelming, and heartbreaking as they battle every obstacle that separates them from their true destiny. René Pape is King Marke, betrayed not only by Isolde but by Tristan, the man he most trusts and loves like a son. With Ekaterina Gubanova as Isolde’s confidante Brangäne and Evgeny Nikitin as Kurwenal, Tristan’s loyal lieutenant. Simon Rattle conducts a surging, shimmering account of Wagner’s monumental score.

The Metropolitan Opera: Tristan und Isolde

The 2016 Don Carlo production at the Vienna State Opera, directed by Daniele Abbado, offered a modern, minimalist take on Verdi's masterpiece. Abbado emphasized the psychological and political tensions within the story, employing stark sets and subdued colors to evoke a timeless, oppressive atmosphere. Lighting played a crucial role, intensifying the focus on the characters' inner struggles and conflicts. The cast featured René Pape as a commanding and deeply nuanced Philip II, alongside Ramón Vargas as Don Carlo and Anja Harteros, who delivered a luminous and emotionally charged portrayal of Elisabetta.

Don Carlo

A whimsical fairy tale with themes deeply rooted in the Enlightenment and principles of Free Masonry, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) appeals to audiences of all ages. Tony Award–winner Julie Taymor matches the magic and mystery of this timeless fable with a staging that bursts to life with vivid colors, intricate costumes, and inventive puppetry. In this performance from the 2017–18 Live in HD season, tenor Charles Castronovo stars as Tamino, the noble prince on a quest to rescue the maiden Pamina, sung by radiant soprano Golda Schultz in her Met-debut season. Along the way, Tamino befriends the lovable bird catcher Papageno, sung by baritone Markus Werba, and goes up against the forces of light—represented by bass René Pape’s benevolent Sarastro—and darkness—embodied by soprano Kathryn Lewek’s hair-raising Queen of the Night. Maestro James Levine is on the podium to lead a joyous performance of one of Mozart’s final masterpieces.

Mozart: Die Zauberflöte

Motivated by the love that bound him to Mathilda Wesendonck, Richard Wagner’s composition of Tristan und Isolde goes far beyond any simple operatic gesture. Peter Sellars’ production pours oil onto this troubled sea of emotions in an almost dematerialised setting bared of all earthly contingencies whilst Bill Viola presents the lovers’ initiatory quest for nirvana in videos detached from the stage, suspended like altarpieces.

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his overwhelming portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between grasping ambition and crippling paranoia. Conductor Sebastian Weigle leads Mussorgsky’s masterwork, a pillar of the Russian repertoire, in its original 1869 version, which runs two-and-a-quarter hours with no intermission. Stephen Wadsworth’s affecting production poignantly captures the hope and suffering of the Russian people as well as the tsar himself.