#Met50 - The Metropolitan Opera launches their 2016-2017 Season

The Metropolitan Opera, in New York City, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary - SILVER - this year and boy do they have the season to match it! With an operating budget of $296 million, they will be staging at total of 26 operas, which amounts to 225 performances! (FYI, there are 365 days in a year, get it?)

L'amour de loin, Festival d'Opéra de Québec, 2015. (Louise Leblanc)

​Now I won't list all the operas they will do, or which singer will appear in which opera conducted by who. Opera News covers that at length already (full article here) However here are a few things that I believe are worth mentioning: 

• Of the 26 operas scheduled, six are new productions. This means that they have NEVER been performed at the Met. So don't be like "Rusalka? I've seen it already." No. Because you haven't seen that version, which could be a totally different interpretation than the one you previously saw. Trust me, I've seen 3 different Barber of Seville and counting folks. (I'm feeling sassy tonight, #sorrynotsorry.)

• Of those new productions, there is L'amour de loin,premiering December 1st. Two things about this one. First, its a contemporary opera composed by a woman, Kaija Saariaho. There aren't many female composers to begin with, and even less of their compositions are being staged. In the Met history, this is only the second time that this happens. So you can either be shocked by the inequality or happy that there is finally progress in the industry and that diversity is being embraced.
• Second thing about L'amour de loin: its a co-production with l'Opéra de Québec! (Yeah, I feel cool right now.) Even better, Robert Lepage did the staging, and the production was presented last year at the Festival d'Opéra de Québec, from July 31st to August 2nd. So if you're like me, and you MISSED it, plan a December trip to the Big Apple.

• According to The Wall Street Journal, there are some rumors that Yannick Nézet-Séguin would be a potential successor for James Levine... Is it an urban legend if The Wall Street Journal mentions it? Now Mr. Nézet-Séguin is already Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain, as well as Musical Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. I don't know for you, but I kinda feel like compared to him, I'm probably watching way too much Netflix, aka procrastinating.
• If you're still thinking "an operating budget of $296 million?!?" and your mouth is still dropped, close it. Opera productions are extremely expensive to stage when you not only consider all the work and labour that goes into it, but also consumers' expectations and value perceptions. Bang for your buck, you know what I mean? Anyway, this chat will be for another blog entry...

• Finally, although there's nothing like seeing opera live, if you can't make it to the Lincoln Centre this year, you can catch the Met's Live in HD simulcast in movie theatres. (If you haven't heard about this at all, you probably live under a rock...) The advantage of experiencing opera this way is that you can witness what happens backstage, watch live interviews with international singers (who will unlikely come perform in Montreal or Toronto), as well as close-ups. It sounds simple, close-ups, but when you're sitting in a hall watching the performance live, you can't zoom in. Well not more than your opera glasses can. And that's only if you have opera glasses. So yeah, close-ups. Really gets you in on that emotion and drama.​

The 2016-17 Season is now on sale! For the full season line-up w 6 new productions: https://t.co/gPk4LXFQi4 #Met50 pic.twitter.com/awKynpPrBa

— Metropolitan Opera (@MetOpera) February 17, 2016

So there it is, our take on the Met's new 2016-2017 season! I'd love to finish the article with their season trailer, but oddly there isn't one (at least on Youtube). So if you'd like to learn more - or actually buy tickets ASAP, because yes, you can - definitely go check out the Met's website here.

Stay classy.