Christopher Job

One of opera’s grimmest tragedies received a powerful new production during the 2021–22 season when director Bartlett Sher unveiled his Weimar-era staging of Verdi’s Rigoletto. In this performance, recorded as part of the company’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions, commanding American baritone Quinn Kelsey gives a searing portrayal of the title character, a deformed court jester determined to protect the virtue of his daughter, Gilda, sung by radiant soprano Rosa Feola. His debauched employer, the Duke of Mantua, is tenor Piotr Beczała, with dynamic young maestro Daniele Rustioni on the podium to lead a cast that also features bass Andrea Mastroni as the assassin Sparafucile and mezzo-soprano Varduhi Abrahamyan as Maddalena.

La nouvelle mise en scène audacieuse de Sir David McVicar de Tosca, le thriller lyrique de Puccini sur la Rome napoléonienne, a enthousiasmé le public du Met en 2018. Dans cette retransmission en live HD, la soprano bulgare Sonya Yoncheva incarne la diva éponyme passionnée, face au ténor charismatique Vittorio Grigolo dans le rôle de son amant, le peintre idéaliste Mario Cavaradossi. Le baryton Željko Lučić incarne le menaçant baron Scarpia, le chef de la police qui emploie des tactiques brutales pour piéger à la fois les criminels et ses conquêtes sexuelles. Sur le podium, Emmanuel Villaume dirige la partition électrisante, qui présente certaines des mélodies les plus mémorables de Puccini.

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.