Ming Cho Lee, 1930–2020

The Metropolitan Opera mourns the death of eminent set designer Ming Cho Lee, whose five productions for our stage between 1974 and 1985 were among our handsomest. Mr. Lee began his association with the Met designing sets for the three operas of the “Mini-Met” season that took place in the Forum Theater in 1973. The following year, his first production on the Met stage was a beautiful staging of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov (pictured above), directed by August Everding. Time magazine praised his “masterly series of designs that not only touch the eyes but also move the drama forward virtually without pause.” Productions of Bellini’s I Puritani, Wagner’s Lohengrin, Donizetti’s La Favorita, and Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina followed, all of them stylishly conceived and visually appealing. We offer our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and admirers.