The financially struggling will present 18 productions in 2024-25, matching the current season and pandemic-curtailed 2019-20 for the fewest since 14 in strike-shortened 1980-81.
Met general manager Peter Gelb kept up his pivot to contemporary works, starting the season with on Sept. 23, then presenting Osvaldo Golijov鈥檚 鈥淎inadamar鈥� opening Oct. 15 and John Adams鈥� 鈥淎ntony and Cleopatra鈥� beginning May 12, 2025.
鈥淎ida鈥� is the sole totally new production plus five new-to-the-Met stagings. There will be 194 performances under the schedule announced Wednesday, matching the current season and down from 215 in 2022-23.
Under Gelb the Met has withdrawn $40 million from the company鈥檚 endowment, reducing it to about $255 million. The Met had a recent high of 28 productions in 2007-08.
鈥淲e need to make the season compelling and interesting and vital and appealing to both the older audiences as well as the increasing number of new audiences who are attending," Gelb said. 鈥漌e also have the financial constraints that the post-pandemic world has left us in."
Contemporary works had varying box office success in this season鈥檚 first half. Anthony Davis鈥� 鈥淴: The Life and Times of Malcolm X鈥� sold 78% of available seats, Daniel Cat谩n鈥檚 鈥淔lorencia en el Amazonas鈥� 68% and Heggie鈥檚 鈥淒ead Man Walking鈥� 62%.
鈥淣ot everything we do is going to be a home run at the box office even if they are artistically home runs,鈥� Gelb said.
Overall ticket sales in the first half were 73%, up from 62.7% in the first part of the 2022-23 season. A new staging of Bizet鈥檚 鈥淐armen鈥� sold 84% and Mozart鈥檚 鈥淭he Magic Flute鈥� topped revivals at 87%, followed by Puccini鈥檚 鈥淟a Boh猫me鈥� (74%), Verdi鈥檚 鈥淣abucco鈥� (71%), Wagner鈥檚 鈥淭annh盲user鈥� (64%) and Verdi鈥檚 鈥淯n Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball)鈥� (56%).
鈥淕rounded,鈥� about a female fighter pilot with a libretto by George Brant, had its world premiere at the Washington National Opera last fall. Emily D鈥橝ngelo and Ben Bliss star in Michael Mayer's staging, and Met music director Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin conducts.
鈥淎ct 1 has been restructured. It鈥檚 shorter. And new music has been written by Jeanine,鈥� Gelb said.
Mayer鈥檚 version of 鈥淎ida鈥� that opens on New Year's Eve was announced in 2017 as a co-production with Moscow鈥檚 Bolshoi Theatre and was to have opened the Met鈥檚 2020-21 season. It was pushed back by the pandemic and the Bolshoi鈥檚 participation was dropped after Russia鈥檚 2022 . It replaces a lavish Sonja Frisell production that appeared 262 times from 1988 through last year. Angel Blue and Piotr Becza艂a star.
Mayer frames the story as being discovered by an archaeologist reading hieroglyphics in a tomb.
"The world has changed so much since we started the project. The concept came out of a very different time and place,鈥� Mayer said.
Claus Guth's staging of Strauss鈥� 鈥淪alome鈥� opening April 29, 2025, originally was a co-production that appeared at the Bolshoi in 2021 before the Met severed ties. Elza van den Heever stars and N茅zet-S茅guin conducts.
鈥淎inadamar" is seen in Deborah Colker's staging that was first at the Scottish Opera in 2022; 鈥淢oby-Dick鈥� (March 3) in the Leonard Foglia production from its Dallas Opera premiere in 2010; and 鈥淎ntony and Cleopatra鈥� with in Elkhanah Pulitzer's staging from the San Francisco Opera鈥檚 world premiere in 2022.
appears in revivals of Puccini's 鈥淭osca鈥� and Beethoven's 鈥淔idelio."
Guth鈥檚 production of Handel鈥檚 鈥淪emele鈥� was pushed back to a later season. Gelb said previously delayed stagings on track for future seasons include Bellini鈥檚 鈥淟a Sonnambula鈥� by Rolando Villaz贸n and Weill鈥檚 鈥淩ise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny鈥� by Ivo van Hove.
Next season joins 2013-14 as the only seasons without Wagner since anti-German sentiment in 1918-19 caused by World War I.
High-definition simulcasts to movie theaters were cut to eight, down from nine this season and 10 in 2022-23. The winter break instituted in 2022 was increased to five weeks from four.
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
