By Damián Autorino
Editor at Moto Perpetuo

This week, the Metropolitan Opera unveiled its 2025–26 season, marking the company’s 142nd year with six new productions—including three Met premieres—alongside 12 revivals.
The season opens with The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a newly commissioned opera by Mason Bates, who makes his Met debut. The production will be conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Audiences can expect new stagings of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, directed by Yuval Sharon in his Met debut; Bellini’s I Puritani, presented at the annual New Year’s Eve gala; and La Sonnambula, directed by tenor-turned-director Rolando Villazón. The season’s revivals include works such as Bizet’s Carmen, Strauss’s Arabella, and Giordano’s Andrea Chénier.

At Moto Perpetuo, we have selected five highlights from the season. For a full overview, you can explore the Met’s website

Our selection:

Innocence

Kaija Saariaho’s final opera, Innocence, receives its Met premiere. With a libretto by Sofi Oksanen and direction by Simon Stone, this psychological drama debuted, with great reviews, at the 2021 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Conductor Susanna Mälkki, a longtime Saariaho collaborator, leads the production. The cast includes mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Finnish ethno-pop singer Vilma Jää as a grieving mother and her lost daughter.

Tristan und Isolde

Lise Davidsen takes on the role of Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, opening with a gala premiere on March 9. She is joined by tenor Michael Spyres as Tristan. The production marks Yuval Sharon’s first staging at the Met, while Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Tristan und Isolde with the company.

I Puritani

Bellini’s I Puritani returns to the Met stage in a new production, the first in nearly half a century, as part of the annual New Year’s Eve Gala. Charles Edwards, known primarily as a set designer, makes his Met directorial debut. The cast includes soprano Lisette Oropesa as Elvira, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Arturo, baritone Artur Ruciński as Riccardo, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn as Elvira’s uncle, Giorgio. Marco Armiliato conducts.

La Sonnambula

Nadine Sierra stars as Amina in a new production of Bellini’s La Sonnambula, set in a stylized vision of the Swiss Alps. Rolando Villazón directs, continuing his work as a stage director. Riccardo Frizza conducts the October 6 premiere. The cast includes tenor Xabier Anduaga as Amina’s fiancé, Elvino, soprano Sydney Mancasola as Lisa, and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Count Rodolfo.

Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin returns to the Met with Asmik Grigorian as Tatiana. Grigorian, who made her Met debut last season in Madama Butterfly, takes on the role of the young and idealistic heroine. Igor Golovatenko plays Onegin, while Stanislas de Barbeyrac appears as Lenski. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe sings Filippyevna. Timur Zangiev, making his Met debut, conducts.