Berlioz

A pre-opera lecture will be held at 11:15 am in the Balcony Lounge. Tim Snider will be conducting the lecture. Thank you to Speak! Language Center for their partnership on the pre-opera lectures.

Casting Update News:

Tenor Marcello Giordani has decided to withdraw from the remaining four performances of Berlioz’s Les Troyens, permanently retiring the role of Aeneas from his repertory. In his place, American tenor Bryan Hymel will make his Met debut, singing the role on December 26, December 29 matinee, January 1, and January 5 matinee (the date of the global HD transmission).

As scheduled, Giordani will return to the Met in March 2013 to sing in the revival of Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini.

Francesca Zambello’s acclaimed 2003 production of Berlioz’s Trojan War epic returns to the Met for its first revival. Fabio Luisi conducts a cast led by Marcello Giordani in the central role of Aeneas, the hero who flees the ruins of Troy for a new set of challenges in the North African kingdom of Carthage. Deborah Voigt reprises the role of the cursed Trojan prophetess Cassandra, which she sang in the new production premiere, and Susan Graham makes her Met role debut as Dido, the noble but heartbroken Queen of Carthage.