Following a pandemic shutdown and a resulting saga of labor negotiations, the Metropolitan Opera plans to reopen its doors at Lincoln Center, beginning with a 20th anniversary commemoration of the September 11 attacks. The previously announced event, marking the Met’s first in-person and indoor performance since March 2020, will also air on PBS; ballet star Misty Copeland will host the Great Performances presentation (check local listings).
Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct the September 11 performance, featuring the Met Orchestra and Chorus plus soloists Ailyn Pérez, Elīna Garanča, Matthew Polenzani, and Eric Owens.
The tradition of outdoor opening night streams also returns, in a sense; the Met will broadcast live audio of the performance in Lincoln Center Plaza, while the façade of the house will be bathed in blue as part of the citywide 9/11 Tribute in Lights.
Five-hundred tickets will be made available to families of September 11 victims. Remaining tickets, priced at $25, will go on sale August 27. Audiences will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and wear masks.
Following the Requiem performance, the Met’s mainstage season is slated to kick off September 27 with Terrence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, marking the first opera by a Black composer to be presented by the New York company.
