Seasonal affective disorder.

(Posted this afternoon on the TONY Blog.)

Get used to the photograph of Renée Fleming that you see to the left: I'd say it's the odds-on favorite for next year's ubiquitous Metropolitan Opera advertisement, the one you'll be seeing on subway stops, vacant lots and city buses the way Natalie Dessay (as Lucia) was splashed all over town this year. The image is a teaser for Fleming's appearance in Jules Massenet's Thaïs, one of six new productions the Met will be presenting during its 2008-2009 season, which was announced late this afternoon at a press conference in the Met's List Hall.

You'll be hearing a lot about the upcoming season, which was announced with an air of bonhomie that has become typical of the Peter Gelb era at the Met. But the moment that will likely generate the most gossip came during the question-and-answer session that followed the formal presentation. Veteran critic John Simon began by praising Gelb as someone who has done more for opera during the last two years than many people achieve in a lifetime.

"One mark of genius is the ability to learn from one's mistakes," Simon continued. "Do you plan on learning from your two most egregious mistakes, namely Mary Zimmerman and John Doyle?" The shock that rippled around the hall after Simon's remark was magnified by the look on the face of Zimmerman, who had presented her vision of next season's La Sonnambula only moments before.

Of course, the very fact that Zimmerman had talked about a new Sonnambula in which Natalie Dessay will still be playing the lead role of Anina was newsworthy, given the lackluster reception of the director's Lucia this season -- we include ourselves among the unconvinced, but note that the show was apparently a box-office success -- and the dissatisfied performers (including Dessay) whose comments circulated on blogs and in the mainstream press. Gelb noted that Zimmerman's Sonnambula will be very different from her Lucia, and Zimmerman described a scenario in which the opera will be staged as a rehearsal of a production of La Sonnambula that gradually morphs into something else, noting a similarity between the process of taking on a dramatic role and dreaming. "When Anina wakes up, she's in Switzerland!" Zimmerman said.

Of the six new productions to be presented next season, Gelb inherited four and inserted two. In addition to Sonnambula (for which Gelb engaged Zimmerman), the Met will present the previously mentioned Thaïs; Puccini's La Rondine, now a starring vehicle for soprano Angela Gheorghiu; and Verdi's Il Trovatore—"a work that has a notorious record at the Met," Gelb said, "as those of you snickering know"—which will star Salvatore Licitra and provide the house debut of inventive director David McVicar.

New to the Met are John Adams's Dr. Atomic, with Gerald Finley reprising his role as Dr. Robert Oppenheimer in a new production by Penny Woolcock, and a Robert Lepage staging of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust starring Marcello Giordani. Woolcock, a first-time opera director, has previously worked with Adams on the revised film version of his second opera, The Death of Klinghoffer. Illustrations of wide, flat-panel sets and massive blocks of cubicles accompanied her talk. Richard Paul Fink and Eric Owens are featured as Edward Teller and General Leslie Groves, respectively; mezzo Sasha Cooke, an extremely promising young company member, takes the role of Kitty Oppenheimer. Alan Gilbert, music director designate of the New York Philharmonic, will conduct the run.

Lepage, who will be designing the Met's next Ring cycle, was commissioned by Gelb to create his Damnation for the Saito Kinen Festival. Gelb later arranged to purchase the sets from the Paris Opera, and Lepage was said to be extensively reworking them.

The reason that the Met is presenting only six new productions, rather than the seven previously stated as Gelb's annual goal, is that the Otto Schenk Ring cycle will be brought out for its farewell run from March to May 2009, with the director returning to supervise its farewell voyage. Gelb noted that this was part of a new initiative that will see the director who created a Met production returning to direct its revivals whenever possible.

Other announced highlights of the season ahead include an Opening Night Gala on September 22, in which Renée Fleming will be featured in an act apiece from Capriccio, La Traviata and Manon, and a March 15th gala that will mark both the Met's 125th anniversary and Plácido Domingo's 40th year with the company. For the occasion, Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott will supervise projected recreations of historic sets such as Marc Chagall's 1967 Magic Flute, 1903's premiere of Parsifal, 1910's world premiere of La Fanciulla del West, the Met's opening-night Faust from 1883 and more. In addition, the first anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti's death will be marked by a September 18 pre-season performance of Verdi's Requiem, for which 3,000 free tickets will be distributed.

Daniel Barenboim will make his Met debut with Tristan und Isolde in November, and on December 14 he will present the first piano recital on the Met stage since Vladimir Horowitz's historic concerts in the 1980s. Seiji Ozawa returns for the first time since 1992 for The Queen of Spades. The highly touted young Finnish conductor Mikko Franck makes his debut with Salome. Louis Langrée returns for a run of Don Giovanni. Notable for his absence will be Valery Gergiev, whose tenure as principal guest conductor ends this year; he will be back as of the 2009-2010 season, and no replacement has been named for his former role.

There's plenty of noteworthy casting to be discussed, as the opera blogs are no doubt doing right this minute. On the plus side, Stephanie Blythe will be featured in the Mark Morris production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice opposite the fabulous Daniele de Niese, and Karita Mattila sings her first Met Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. As previously rumored, Diana Damrau will be taking over the early-season Lucia performances that Anna Netrebko will be missing due to maternity leave. Less thrilling was the announcement that Rossini's La Cenerentola will be revived as a vehicle for elegant eyeful Elina Garanca, as opposed to the utterly charming Joyce DiDonato, absent this season.

Last but not least, Gelb announced two forthcoming works of note: Adams's Nixon in China for the 2010-2011 season, directed by Peter Sellars in his Met debut, and Thomas Adès's The Tempest in 2012-2013.

Comments

[Counter Critic]

Holy cow. How ridiculous was John Simon's question? Not ridiculous because of its position (I didn't like Zimmerman's "Lucia" and also had trouble digesting some of Doyle's "Grimes,"), but because was really such a cynical non-question.; a question without detail and without even the sincere hope of seeking an answer. It was meant to shock, and it did, but wound up making Simon look foolish and Zimmerman like a saint. For someone lauded as being in such high command of language, he seemed rather to give up on the entire idea of communication for the sake of insult.

[Bruce Hodges]

I agree, that was a completely gratuitous remark, and although I didn't see "Lucia," I would hardly characterize Doyle's "Peter Grimes" as an "egregious mistake." Final scene aside (apparently now changed), I think much of Doyle's conceit is pretty brilliant, helped by set designer Scott Pask. At the moment I'm seeing the opera at least three more times (including the movie theater live broadcast), and very much looking forward to all of them.

[Not Bruce Hodges]

So you think Doyle's concept is "pretty brilliant?" Explain, please, for those of us who think it's the most egregious offense ever perpetrated on one of the greatest operas ever written.

[JSU]

That Fleming pic is actually the least flattering of the bunch. Most striking is Giordani on horseback, but I suppose it would be sort of silly to make him the face of the Met (though is *is* in everything now).

[Marc Geelhoed]

John Simon: The charm will never grow old.

[Steve Smith]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Bruce, for better or for worse I'm actually pretty sorry now that I won't be able to see Doyle's original closing scene, so I can't come to my own conclusions. (Maury D'Annato also mentioned this change in a good post on his blog, as did Martin Bernheimer in yesterday's Financial Times review of City Opera's King Arthur.)

I appreciate your sticking your neck out to express your appreciation of a production that's taking a lot of flak. So Steven G., next time you want to take a poke at a fellow commenter on this blog -- which you are of course welcome to do; we're all here to discuss things -- please be so courteous as to sign your real name to it.

[Bruce Hodges]

Thanks, Steve. Here is my write-up for MusicWeb. I wish I'd had just a little more editing time to tighten up a few redundant bits, but I wanted to get the article up quickly, to counter the mostly negative comments.

After tonight's viewing, tomorrow I'll post the review on my blog, along with some comments on the changes in the final scene.

And yes, I stand by my original feeling that it's one of the best things I've seen at the Met this season. Doyle's concept is perhaps extreme, but the opera--a candidate for "greatest of the 20th century"--is strong enough to take it.

[Marc Geelhoed]

After reading through these comments, I'm really looking forward to the HD broadcast and drawing some conclusions of my own.

[Henry Holland]

I miss Martin Bernheimer in the Los Angeles Times so. damn. much.

"The State Theater, capacity 2,775, is too big for such fragile fluff, razzle-dazzle notwithstanding. The soloists chirp and rant prettily. The dancers do their gutsy-goofy thing. Jane Glover defends Baroque honour nobly in the pit. Nothing matters much".

*Sigh*