The Metropolitan Opera has announced plans to enhance its financial stability by implementing a double casting strategy for certain Verdi and Puccini revivals, while also moving some contemporary performances away from Saturday slots. This initiative follows recommendations from a consulting firm aimed at improving the organization’s economic health.
The 2025-26 season, which was revealed on Wednesday, marks the third consecutive year that the Met will present 18 productions, a reduction from the 28 offered in the 2007-08 season. Keeping with the trend, there will be six new productions making their Met debut, including three that have never been staged by the company before.
An impressive 79% of the 196 performances will be revivals, up from 71% in the current season. Notably, Verdi’s “La Traviata” is set to be performed 21 times, while Puccini favorites will have 52 presentations—20 for “La Bohème,” 17 for “Turandot,” and 15 for “Madama Butterfly.” “Butterfly” will feature Sonya Yoncheva on March 18, followed by Elena Stikhina the next day; while “Traviata” will showcase Rosa Feola on May 8 and Ermonela Jaho on May 9.
Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Met, shared that one of the consulting group’s suggestions was to focus on operas regularly performed by the company. This approach would allow for extended runs featuring multiple casts, minimizing the need for frequent changes to the stage setup.
The consultants also recommended limiting split runs, where an opera is staged at different times throughout the season. The Met has begun holding weekly cost-monitoring meetings with heads of various departments. Importantly, the organization has not tapped into its endowment this year, following a withdrawal of $40 million in the previous 2023-24 season.
At the midpoint of the season, Met attendance was recorded at 70% capacity, a slight decline from 73% during the same period last year. However, projections suggest that the company anticipates an increase, finishing the season at 75%, up from 72%. Jeanine Tesori’s “Grounded” opened the season, achieving just 50% capacity— the lowest of the ten productions. This contrasted with the English-language revival of Julie Taymor’s staging of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” which led with 82%, and Michael Mayer’s new production of Verdi’s “Aida,” which attracted 79%.
Looking ahead, Mason Bates’ “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” is set to premiere on September 21, featuring seven performances, the maximum allowed for new productions. Gelb indicated that revisions have been made to enhance character visibility since its world premiere with a student cast at Indiana University in November. Notably, “Kavalier” will not be part of the Met’s program for high-definition video broadcasts to theaters worldwide. Gelb mentioned that broadcast viewership is currently at 55% of pre-pandemic levels, noting that newer works often receive local publicity but have not performed well in Europe, which accounts for half of the HD audience. He emphasized that focusing on the staple repertoire alongside fewer new works allows the live broadcasts to remain financially viable.
Other new productions making their Met debut will include Rolando Villazón’s staging of Bellini’s “La Sonnambula” (opening October 6), Carlos Edwards’ interpretation of Bellini’s “I Puritani” (New Year’s Eve), Yuval Sharon’s production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” featuring Lise Davidsen (March 9), Kaija Saariaho’s final opera, “Innocence” (April 6), and “El ultimó sueño de Frida y Diego,” a collaboration between Grammy Award winner Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz (May 14).
Additionally, among future Met commissions, Carlos Simon’s opera originally titled “The Highlands” has been renamed to “In the Rush,” set for the 2026-27 season, and Huang Ruo’s “The Wedding Banquet” will open the 2027-28 season. Ivo Van Hove’s production of Weill’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” and Claus Guth’s staging of Handel’s “Semele” are also scheduled for the 2027-28 season. The plans for Handel’s “Alcina,” directed by Richard Jones, and “Ariodante,” helmed by Robert Carsen, remain in progress, along with Simon McBurney’s production of Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina.” However, plans for Kevin Newbury’s staging of Donizetti’s “La Favorite” have been abandoned, and Barrie Kosky’s production of Prokofiev’s “The Fiery Angel,” originally scheduled for the canceled 2020-21 season, remains on hold.
