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https://www.metopera.org/season/2026-27-season/lincoln-in-the-bardo/

George Saunders’s Booker Prize–winning novel arrives at the Met in operatic form, with music by American composer Missy Mazzoli—hailed by The New Yorker as a “once-in-a-generation magician of the orchestra”—and libretto by Royce Vavrek. The supernatural story takes place in the “bardo,” a transitional plane between the end of this life and the beginning of the next, populated by those who resist all the powers of light and darkness and refuse to accept their fates. The action revolves around 11-year-old Willie, recently deceased son of Abraham Lincoln, whose grief-stricken visits to Willie’s tomb prevent his son’s spirit from moving on. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts an ensemble cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as Lincoln, alongside a superlative group of singers as the kaleidoscopic residents of the bardo, who band together to help Willie escape being trapped there for eternity—including soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz has created an otherworldly setting for this unique and uniquely American tale, which arrives at the Met in time for the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations.

Composed by Missy Mazzoli
Libretto by Royce Vavrek
Based on the novel by George Saunders

https://www.metopera.org/season/2026-27-season/lincoln-in-the-bardo/

Livestream: https://ondemand.metopera.org/radio/a7baf155-0df5-5c48-a287-41b89abd0fdd

George Saunders’s Booker Prize–winning novel arrives at the Met in operatic form, with music by American composer Missy Mazzoli—hailed by The New Yorker as a “once-in-a-generation magician of the orchestra”—and libretto by Royce Vavrek. The supernatural story takes place in the “bardo,” a transitional plane between the end of this life and the beginning of the next, populated by those who resist all the powers of light and darkness and refuse to accept their fates. The action revolves around 11-year-old Willie, recently deceased son of Abraham Lincoln, whose grief-stricken visits to Willie’s tomb prevent his son’s spirit from moving on. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts an ensemble cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as Lincoln, alongside a superlative group of singers as the kaleidoscopic residents of the bardo, who band together to help Willie escape being trapped there for eternity—including soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz has created an otherworldly setting for this unique and uniquely American tale, which arrives at the Met in time for the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations.

Composed by Missy Mazzoli
Libretto by Royce Vavrek
Based on the novel by George Saunders

https://www.metopera.org/season/2026-27-season/lincoln-in-the-bardo/

George Saunders’s Booker Prize–winning novel arrives at the Met in operatic form, with music by American composer Missy Mazzoli—hailed by The New Yorker as a “once-in-a-generation magician of the orchestra”—and libretto by Royce Vavrek. The supernatural story takes place in the “bardo,” a transitional plane between the end of this life and the beginning of the next, populated by those who resist all the powers of light and darkness and refuse to accept their fates. The action revolves around 11-year-old Willie, recently deceased son of Abraham Lincoln, whose grief-stricken visits to Willie’s tomb prevent his son’s spirit from moving on. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts an ensemble cast led by baritone Peter Mattei as Lincoln, alongside a superlative group of singers as the kaleidoscopic residents of the bardo, who band together to help Willie escape being trapped there for eternity—including soprano Christine Goerke, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. Director Lileana Blain-Cruz has created an otherworldly setting for this unique and uniquely American tale, which arrives at the Met in time for the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations.

Composed by Missy Mazzoli
Libretto by Royce Vavrek
Based on the novel by George Saunders

Livestream: https://ondemand.metopera.org/radio/a7baf155-0df5-5c48-a287-41b89abd0fdd

After delivering one of the most stunning productions in recent Met memory with his 2025 take on Strauss’s Salome, director Claus Guth returns with a psychologically probing setting of Janáček’s haunting Jenůfa, extolled by The Telegraph at its London premiere as an “edgy, evocative staging that will surely become a classic.” Headlining the new staging is soprano Asmik Grigorian, whose dramatic intensity and powerhouse voice are perfectly suited to the demands of the title character, a young woman driven to despair by abandonment and betrayal. Legendary soprano Nina Stemme returns to the Met as the Kostelnička, Jenůfa’s stern stepmother, who commits an unspeakable act in a misguided attempt to save Jenůfa from ruin. Tenors Sean Panikkar and Ryan Capozzo also star as the impulsive Laca, who disfigures Jenůfa in a fit of jealousy, and his stepbrother Števa, who fathers her child before cruelly abandoning her. Maestro Tomáš Hanus makes his company debut on the podium.

After delivering one of the most stunning productions in recent Met memory with his 2025 take on Strauss’s Salome, director Claus Guth returns with a psychologically probing setting of Janáček’s haunting Jenůfa, extolled by The Telegraph at its London premiere as an “edgy, evocative staging that will surely become a classic.” Headlining the new staging is soprano Asmik Grigorian, whose dramatic intensity and powerhouse voice are perfectly suited to the demands of the title character, a young woman driven to despair by abandonment and betrayal. Legendary soprano Nina Stemme returns to the Met as the Kostelnička, Jenůfa’s stern stepmother, who commits an unspeakable act in a misguided attempt to save Jenůfa from ruin. Tenors Sean Panikkar and Ryan Capozzo also star as the impulsive Laca, who disfigures Jenůfa in a fit of jealousy, and his stepbrother Števa, who fathers her child before cruelly abandoning her. Maestro Tomáš Hanus makes his company debut on the podium.

After delivering one of the most stunning productions in recent Met memory with his 2025 take on Strauss’s Salome, director Claus Guth returns with a psychologically probing setting of Janáček’s haunting Jenůfa, extolled by The Telegraph at its London premiere as an “edgy, evocative staging that will surely become a classic.” Headlining the new staging is soprano Asmik Grigorian, whose dramatic intensity and powerhouse voice are perfectly suited to the demands of the title character, a young woman driven to despair by abandonment and betrayal. Legendary soprano Nina Stemme returns to the Met as the Kostelnička, Jenůfa’s stern stepmother, who commits an unspeakable act in a misguided attempt to save Jenůfa from ruin. Tenors Sean Panikkar and Ryan Capozzo also star as the impulsive Laca, who disfigures Jenůfa in a fit of jealousy, and his stepbrother Števa, who fathers her child before cruelly abandoning her. Maestro Tomáš Hanus makes his company debut on the podium.

After delivering one of the most stunning productions in recent Met memory with his 2025 take on Strauss’s Salome, director Claus Guth returns with a psychologically probing setting of Janáček’s haunting Jenůfa, extolled by The Telegraph at its London premiere as an “edgy, evocative staging that will surely become a classic.” Headlining the new staging is soprano Asmik Grigorian, whose dramatic intensity and powerhouse voice are perfectly suited to the demands of the title character, a young woman driven to despair by abandonment and betrayal. Legendary soprano Nina Stemme returns to the Met as the Kostelnička, Jenůfa’s stern stepmother, who commits an unspeakable act in a misguided attempt to save Jenůfa from ruin. Tenors Sean Panikkar and Ryan Capozzo also star as the impulsive Laca, who disfigures Jenůfa in a fit of jealousy, and his stepbrother Števa, who fathers her child before cruelly abandoning her. Maestro Tomáš Hanus makes his company debut on the podium.

After delivering one of the most stunning productions in recent Met memory with his 2025 take on Strauss’s Salome, director Claus Guth returns with a psychologically probing setting of Janáček’s haunting Jenůfa, extolled by The Telegraph at its London premiere as an “edgy, evocative staging that will surely become a classic.” Headlining the new staging is soprano Asmik Grigorian, whose dramatic intensity and powerhouse voice are perfectly suited to the demands of the title character, a young woman driven to despair by abandonment and betrayal. Legendary soprano Nina Stemme returns to the Met as the Kostelnička, Jenůfa’s stern stepmother, who commits an unspeakable act in a misguided attempt to save Jenůfa from ruin. Tenors Sean Panikkar and Ryan Capozzo also star as the impulsive Laca, who disfigures Jenůfa in a fit of jealousy, and his stepbrother Števa, who fathers her child before cruelly abandoning her. Maestro Tomáš Hanus makes his company debut on the podium.