Moscow's Bolshoi Theater and New York’s Metropolitan Opera are teaming up for the first time to stage three shows and buck the trend of deteriorating Russian-U.S. relations in other spheres.
Verdi’s “Aida,” Strauss’s “Salome,” and Wagner's “Lohengrin” will be performed in the two cities between 2019 and 2022, the Bolshoi said in a statement on Monday.
Russia’s renowned soprano Anna Netrebko is expected to grace both the Moscow and New York City stages in all three productions. She has been designated to take the lead roles in “Aida” and “Salome,” and play Elsa of Brabant in “Lohengrin.”
“Joint projects with the Met have long been our dream,” said Bolshoi director Vladimir Urin.
The American Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer will stage “Aida,” Germany’s Claus Guth will take on “Salome,” while Britain’s Phelim McDermott will direct “Lohengrin.”
The Met’s next music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct the three premieres in New York when he takes up the post in 2020, while the Bolshoi’s Tugan Sokhiev will conduct “Aida” and “Salome.”
The two sides have reached a preliminary agreement to premiere “Aida” in New York and open the other two operas in Moscow, according to Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
While Bolshoi productions have been staged at the Met since 1959, the upcoming operas will mark the first Met Opera productions in Russia.
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