Nicola Luisotti conducts Michael Mayer’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata, returning April 5

Nicola Luisotti conducts Michael Mayer’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata, returning April 5

• Anita Hartig sings Violetta opposite Stephen Costello as Alfredo; Artur Ruciński and Plácido Domingo share the role of Germont

•  Michael Mayer’s new production, which premiered earlier this season, returns for a spring run of seven performances

            New York, NY (April 5, 2019)—The Metropolitan Opera’s presents the return of Verdi’s romantic tragedy La Traviata, with performances April 5–27, 2019.  Conductor Nicola Luisotti leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in one of Verdi’s most beloved scores. Soprano Anita Hartig sings the role of Violetta for the first time at the Met, while the tenor Stephen Costello reprises one of his signature roles as Violetta’s hapless lover, Alfredo.  The role of Alfredo’s disapproving father, Giorgio Germont, will be shared by Artur Ruciński and Plácido Domingo, in a role he debuted to acclaim at the Met in 2013.

            In director Michael Mayer’s new staging, first seen earlier this season, the changing seasons mirror the arc of the story as a dazzling mid–19th-century setting is transformed from winter through fall. Set design is by Christine Jones, winner of the 2018 Tony Award for Scenic Design for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Costume designs are by Tony Award winner Susan Hilferty, lighting by Tony Award winner Kevin Adams, and choreography by Lorin Latarro.

La Traviata Radio and Online Broadcasts

The April 17 performance of La Traviata will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius XM Channel 75, and will also be streamed live on the Met’s web site, metopera.org.

La Traviata Artist Biographies

Romanian soprano Anita Hartig sings Violetta, a role she has previously sung at Paris Opera. She made her Met debut in 2013 as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème,followed by performances as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen,Liù in Puccini’s Turandot,her role debut as Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, andAntonia and Stella in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.Recent performances include Mimì, Micaëla, Liù, and Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust at Vienna State Opera. This season, she returns to Vienna State Opera to sing Micaëla and also sings Maria in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at Paris Opera.

American tenor Stephen Costello has previously sung the role of Alfredo at the Met, the Bavarian State Opera, the Bolshoi Theatre, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Earlier this season, he stepped into a performance as Alfredo and before that he was last seen at the Met as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in 2017. He made his Met debut in 2007 as Arturo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with other roles for the company including Camille de Rosillon in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Lord Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, and the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto, which he reprises later this season. He has appeared at many of the world’s leading opera houses and music festivals, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Salzburg Festival.

Polish baritone Artur Ruciński makes his Met role debut as Giorgio Germont, a role he has previously sung at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Arena di Verona, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He made his Met debut in the 2015–16 season, singing Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Notable performances with other opera companies include Verdi roles such as Paolo in Simon Boccanegra at La Scala, Ford in Falstaff at Oper Frankfurt, and Count di Luna in Il Trovatore at the Salzburg Festival. This season, he sings Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Real in Madrid and Opernhaus Zürich, Miller in Verdi’s Luisa Miller at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, and Robert in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at Paris Opera.

Plácido Domingo reprises his portrayal of Giorgio Germont. After making his company debut in 1966 as Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur,he has sung nearly 700 performances with the company to date, in addition to conducting 166 performances. In recent seasons, he has moved into the baritone repertory, performing roles such as Miller in Verdi’s Luisa Miller, Don Carlo in Verdi’s Ernani,Neptune in the baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island,and the title role in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. Also this season, he conducted Verdi’s Aida and sang the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He has completed the incredible feat of having sung the principal male role in every Puccini opera.

Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti made his Met debut conducting Puccini’s Tosca in 2006,and since then has conducted Verdi’s Rigoletto, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and Puccini’s La Bohème and La Fanciulla del West with the company. This season, he also led Met performances of Verdi’s Aida and Rigoletto. From 2009–2018, he was music director of San Francisco Opera, and he has also conducted at La Scala, Teatro Fenice in Venice, Bavarian State Opera, Dresden State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Seattle Opera, LA Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

American director Michael Mayer,whose production of Nico Muhly’s Marnie had its Met premiere earlier this season, made his company debut in the 2012–13 season with the neon-bedecked, Las Vegas–themed production of Rigoletto, which also returns this season. He has directed a diverse range of acclaimed productions on Broadway, on film, and on television. He is perhaps best known to theater audiences for directing two Tony Award–winning musicals, Spring Awakening and American Idiot. His additional Broadway credits include the musicals Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Triumph of Love, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Everyday Rapture, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as the plays ’Night Mother, After the Fall, An Almost Holy Picture, Uncle Vanya, The Lion in Winter, Side Man, and A View From the Bridge. He directed the films The Seagull, Flicka, and A Home at the End of the World. His television credits include the NBC series Smash and Do No Harm.

For More Information

For further details on La Traviata, including casting by date, please click here.

La Traviata

Music by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Friday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 10 at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 13 at 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 17 at 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 20 at 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 27 at 8:30 p.m.

Production a gift of The Paiko Foundation

Major additional funding from Mercedes T. Bass, Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone, and Rolex

For prices and ticket information, please call (212) 362-6000 or visit metopera.org.

Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling (212) 341-5410 or visiting metopera.org/groups.