La Cieca reports on the Met 2008-09 season announcement, which I was unable to attend. She notes significant news in the realm of contemporary opera: John Adams's Nixon in China is scheduled for the 2010-11 season, in the classic Peter Sellars production; the Osvaldo Golijov opera, provisionally titled Daedalus, arrives in 2011-12; and Thomas Adès's The Tempest is slated for 2012-13. Adams's Doctor Atomic will, as was previously known, have its Met premiere next October, in a production by Penny Woolcock, who made the brilliant film of The Death of Klinghoffer. Some may be confused by the fact that Sellars is directing Nixon but not Atomic. As I understand it, Peter Gelb had fundamental disagreements with Sellars over the original Atomic production, but lines of communication remained open, so that Sellars came on board for Nixon's long-delayed Met debut. Some may also wonder why Nixon is showing up at the Met when Gerard Mortier had previously mentioned it for City Opera. I haven't done hard reporting on that issue, but it would appear that Gelb outmaneuvered Mortier on the Adams front. Round 2 to come.
