The New York Philharmonic has announced a new partnership with Carnegie Hall to present annual performances of opera in concert at the esteemed venue's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Gustavo Dudamel will launch his inaugural season as the Philharmonic's Music and Artistic Director with two performances of Puccini's Tosca in November 2026.

Soprano Marina Rebeka will star as Tosca, with tenor Jonas Kaufmann as the painter Cavaradossi, and baritone Ludovic Tézier as Baron Scarpia. All three singers will be making long-anticipated returns to New York City, having made their most recent opera appearances in New York in 2017, 2018, and 2011 respectively, although Kaufmann did return to Carnegie Hall in 2021 for a lieder recital. Rebeka and Tézier have worked together frequently in recent years, most recently starring together in Verdi's Nabucco and Simon Boccanegra at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

Said Dudamel: "Bringing together two of New York City’s most legendary institutions—the New York Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall—is a deeply meaningful way to begin my inaugural season as Music and Artistic Director of the NY Phil." These performances of Tosca will mark Dudamel's first appearances at Carnegie Hall leading the New York Philharmonic.

"Gustavo and the New York Philharmonic both have remarkable histories at Carnegie Hall, and we are thrilled to enter this next chapter together," said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director at Carnegie Hall. "These annual opera-in-concert presentations will be true highlights of the Hall’s upcoming seasons. We are excited to have developed this ongoing partnership that will so meaningfully enrich New York City’s extraordinary music scene."

The complete cast of Tosca also includes Andrew Moore as Angelotti Ben Brady as the Sacristan, Ben Reisinger as Spoletta, Benjamin Taylor as Sciarrone, and Christopher Humbert Jr. as the Jailer. Malcolm J. Merriweather will direct. The opera is set in Rome during the summer of 1800, while French and Austrian forces fight for control of the city. The deposed Roman consul Angelotti takes shelter with the painter Cavaradossi. Cavaradossi and his lover, the singer Tosca, subsequently become the targets of the police chief Baron Scarpia.

Visit NYPhil.org and CarnegieHall.org for more information.