macbeth

GIUSEPPE VERDI

conductor Opera in four acts

Fabio Luisi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and
production
Adrian Noble Andrea Maffei, based on the play by
Shakespeare
set and costume designer
Mark Thompson Saturday, October 11, 2014
lighting designer 1:00–3:55 pm
Jean Kalman
choreographer
Sue Lefton

The production of Macbeth was made

possible by a generous gift from
Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone

Additional funding was received from Mr. and

Mrs. William R. Miller; Hermione Foundation,
Laura Sloate, Trustee; and the Gilbert S. Kahn
and John J. Noffo Kahn Endowment Fund
general manager
Peter Gelb

music director
James Levine

principal conductor
Fabio Luisi
 The 103rd Metropolitan Opera performance of

macbeth
GIUSEPPE VERDI’S

co n duc to r
Fabio Luisi
in order of appearance

m acb e t h fl e a n ce , b a n q u o ’ s s o n
Željko Lučić Moritz Linn

banquo a m u r d er er
René Pape Richard Bernstein

l a dy m acb e t h a h er a l d
Anna Netrebko Seth Malkin

l a dy - i n - wa i t i n g to a d o c to r
l a dy m acb e t h James Courtney
Claudia Waite
a ppa r i t i o n s :
a s er va n t o f m acb e t h a wa r r i o r
Christopher Job David Crawford

d u n c a n , k i n g o f s cot l a n d a b lo o dy ch i l d
Raymond Renault Ashley Emerson*

m a lco l m , d u n c a n ’ s s o n a cr ow n e d ch i l d
Noah Baetge Jihee Kim

m ac d u ff, t h a n e o f fi fe
Joseph Calleja

Saturday, October 11, 2014, 1:00–3:55PM

 This afternoon’s performance is being transmitted live
in high definition to movie theaters worldwide.

The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from

its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation.

Bloomberg is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD.

Chorus Master Donald Palumbo

Assistants to the Set Designer Colin Falconer and
Alex Lowde
Assistant to the Costume Designer Mitchell Bloom
Musical Preparation Donna Racik, Linda Hall,
Steven Eldredge, and J. David Jackson
Assistant Stage Directors Gregory Anthony Fortner and
Gina Lapinski
Stage Band Conductor Jeffrey Goldberg
Fight Director Scott Ramsay
Prompter Donna Racik
Italian Coach Loretta Di Franco
Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed
and painted in Metropolitan Opera Shops
Costumes executed by Metropolitan Opera Costume
Department
Wigs and Makeup executed by Metropolitan Opera
Wig and Makeup Department

This performance is made possible in part by public

funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Before the performance begins, please switch off

cell phones and other electronic devices.

The Met will be recording and simulcasting audio/video

footage in the opera house today. If you do not want us to
use your image, please tell a Met staff member.

* Graduate of the
Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program

Yamaha is the
Official Piano of the
Metropolitan Opera.

Latecomers will not be

admitted during the Met Titles
performance. To activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of
your seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display,
press the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an
Visit metopera.org usher at intermission.
metopera.org 212.362.6000
Synopsis

Scotland

Act I
scene 1 A battlefield
scene 2 Macbeth’s castle

Act II
scene 1 Macbeth’s castle
scene 2 Outside the castle
scene 3 The banquet hall in the castle

Intermission (AT APPROXIMATELY 2:25 PM)

Act III
The banquet hall

Act IV
scene 1 On the Scottish border
scene 2 Macbeth’s castle
scene 3 Birnam Wood

Act I
Macbeth and Banquo, leaders of the Scottish army, meet a group of witches
who prophesy the future. They address Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and King
of Scotland, and tell Banquo that he will be the father of kings. The two men try
to learn more, but the witches vanish. Messengers arrive with news that Duncan,
the current king of Scotland, has made Macbeth Thane of Cawdor. The first part
of the witches’ prediction has come true.

In Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband telling her
of the events that have just transpired. She resolves to follow her ambitions. A
servant announces that Duncan will soon arrive at the castle, and when Macbeth
enters, she tells him that they must kill the king. Duncan arrives. Macbeth has
a vision of a dagger, then leaves to commit the murder. On his return, he tells
his wife how the act has frightened him, and she tells him that he needs more
courage. They both leave as Banquo enters with Macduff, a nobleman, who
discovers the murder. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth pretend to be horrified and
join the others in condemning the murder.

Act II
Macbeth has become king. Duncan’s son, Malcolm, is suspected of having killed
his father and has fled to England. Worried about the prophecy that Banquo’s
children will rule, Macbeth and his wife now plan to kill him and his son, Fleance,

Visit metopera.org 39
 Synopsis CONTINUED

as well. As Macbeth leaves to prepare the double murder, Lady Macbeth hopes
that it will finally make the throne secure.

Outside the castle, assassins wait for Banquo, who appears with his son, warning
him of strange forebodings. Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes.

Lady Macbeth welcomes the court to the banquet hall and sings a drinking song,
while Macbeth receives news that Banquo is dead and his son has escaped.
About to take Banquo’s seat at the table, Macbeth has a terrifying vision of the
dead man accusing him. His wife is unable to calm her unsettled husband, and
the courtiers wonder about the king’s strange behavior. Macduff vows to leave
the country, which is now ruled by criminals.

Act III
The witches gather again, and Macbeth visits them, demanding more prophecies.
Apparitions warn him to beware of Macduff and assure him that “no man of
woman born” can harm him, and that he will be invincible until Birnam Wood
marches on his castle. In another vision, he sees a procession of future kings,
followed by Banquo. Horrified, Macbeth collapses. The witches disappear and
his wife finds him. They resolve to kill Macduff and his family.

Act IV
On the Scottish border, Macduff has joined the refugees. His wife and children
have been killed. Malcolm appears with British troops and leads them to invade
Scotland.

Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, haunted by the horrors of what she and her
husband have done.

Macbeth awaits the arrival of his enemies and realizes that he will never live to
a peaceful old age. Messengers bring news that Lady Macbeth has died, and
that Birnam Wood appears to be moving. English soldiers appear, camouflaged
with its branches. Macduff confronts Macbeth and tells him that he was not born
naturally but had a Caesarean birth. He kills Macbeth and proclaims Malcolm
king of Scotland.

40
In Focus

Giuseppe Verdi

Macbeth
Premiere: Teatro della Pergola, Florence, 1847
Revised version: Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, 1865
Verdi’s opera is a powerful musical interpretation of Shakespeare’s timeless
drama of ambition and its personal cost. Raising questions of fate, superstition,
guilt, and power, it marks an important step on the composer’s path from
his more conventional earlier efforts to the integrated musical dramas of his
mature years. Macbeth is different from many operas in other ways as well,
including those by Verdi himself. Instead of the tenor–soprano love interest
that forms the core of most romantic operas, Macbeth uses a baritone and
dramatic soprano to depict a married couple whose relationship is dominated
by the desire for power.

The Creators
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) composed 28 operas during his 60 active years in the
theater, at least half of which are at the core of today’s opera repertory. His role
in Italy’s cultural and political development has made him an icon in his native
country, and he is cherished the world over for the universality of his art. Francesco
Maria Piave (1810–1876), one of the two librettists for Macbeth, collaborated
with the composer on ten works, including La Traviata, Rigoletto, and La Forza
del Destino. Additional portions of the libretto for Macbeth were provided by
Verdi’s friend Count Andrea Maffei (1798–1885), a cosmopolitan literary amateur
who also wrote the libretto for Verdi’s I Masnadieri and introduced the work
of many great foreign writers, including those of Shakespeare, to Italians. The
plays of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) have provided much excellent source
material to opera composers for four centuries. But when the opera Macbeth
premiered, Shakespeare was not well known in Italy and was considered to have
been a daring choice.

The Setting
The historical Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) was king of Alba from 1040
to his death in 1058, but Shakespeare departs so far from history in his play that
the facts are of little concern. This production of Macbeth places the action of
the opera in a non-specific post-World War II Scotland. This is not the mythic
land popular among Romantic artists (as in earlier operas such as Donizetti’s
Lucia di Lammermoor), but a barbarous place in a constant state of warfare with
only the slightest hint of civility.

Visit metopera.org 41
 In Focus CONTINUED

The Music
The score of Macbeth features little of the melodic abundance that made
Verdi famous. In fact, the composer went out of his way to avoid making this
score too pretty, insisting that the drama was not served by lyricism. The duet
between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after Duncan’s murder, for example, is
more about breathy suspense than standard operatic tuneful flow. (For the
premiere performance Verdi famously rehearsed this duet an astounding
150 times with the leading singers so they would understand entirely what he
was trying to express.) Lady Macbeth, as the true protagonist of the story, has
the most commanding of the great solos, notably her first aria, “Vieni, t’affretta!,”
as she responds to Macbeth’s letter and sets her mind on a course of crime, and
the eerie and intensely difficult “La luce langue,” partly sung, partly declaimed
in Act II as the murder is committed offstage. Her famous sleepwalking scene
in Act IV is a study of guilt unlike any other. The final phrase, rising up to a high
D-flat, is to be sung with “a thread of voice,” according to Verdi’s directions
in the score. Macbeth has solos, yet many of his most arresting moments are,
appropriately, in response to the words and actions of others. His music varies
from jaunty and imperious with the witches in Act I (represented in the opera
by a three-part chorus) to madness in the banquet scene in Act II. Throughout
the opera, the score makes as much of an effect in its striking details as in
its grand gestures. The fading string chords that form a musical depiction of
silence as Macbeth enters the room to murder Duncan in Act I and the weird
wind orchestration for Macbeth’s vision of Banquo’s descendants in Act III (six
clarinets, two oboes and bassoons, and one contrabassoon, all intended to
be under the stage) are only two examples of the haunting individuality of this
remarkable opera.

Macbeth at the Met

Macbeth came to the Met in 1959 as part of a trend of rediscovering the lesser-
known works of Verdi. The Met premiere was a spectacular occasion, featuring
Leonard Warren and the house debut of the riveting Austrian soprano Leonie
Rysanek (substituting for the originally scheduled Maria Callas), as well as
Jerome Hines and Carlo Bergonzi, with Erich Leinsdorf conducting. Martina
Arroyo and Grace Bumbry shared the role of Lady Macbeth in a 1973 revival
featuring Sherrill Milnes in the title role, a part he would perform 38 times until
1984. Peter Hall’s first production at the Met was a new Macbeth in 1982 featuring
Milnes and Renata Scotto, with Ruggero Raimondi and Giuseppe Giacomini,
and James Levine conducting. The current production by Adrian Noble had its
debut on October 22, 2007, with Željko Lučić as Macbeth, Maria Guleghina as
Lady Macbeth, and Maestro Levine conducting.

42
Program Note

I
n 1846, following his first successes at La Scala with Nabucco (1842) and
I Lombardi (1843), Verdi was engaged to compose a new opera for Antonio
Lanari, the impresario at Mantua. But the contract was reassigned, by mutual
agreement, to Antonio’s father, Alessandro, himself an important impresario
and manager and director of Florence’s Teatro della Pergola. Florence deemed
itself the intellectual capital of Italy, so this was a prestigious commission for
the 33-year-old composer, who had already proved himself in Milan, Venice,
Rome, and Naples. Now he had to meet a new challenge. Florence had recently
seen the Italian premieres of two foreign operas, Weber’s Der Freischütz and
Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable, both of which featured plots involving diabolical
forces. Verdi had two possible subjects in mind: the drama Die Ahnfrau by the
Austrian poet and playwright Franz Grillparzer, which demanded a very strong
tenor, and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which demanded a very strong baritone.
Since Lanari’s company could provide only the latter, Verdi chose Macbeth.
Bold choice! Shakespeare’s play had not yet been staged in Italy, though
it had been translated. Since Florence was also the center of liberal thought,
Verdi was able to treat scenes of supernatural interference in political events, of
regicide and political tyranny, that censors elsewhere in Italy would never have
permitted. When Macbeth was staged in Rome, the supernatural elements were
excised and the witches became fortune-telling gypsies. In Naples and Palermo,
it was not King Duncan who was murdered, but merely his head-of-staff; and in
Austrian-occupied Milan, the “patria oppressa” (“oppressed fatherland”) of the
exiles’ chorus became a “patria amata” (“beloved fatherland”), and the phrase
“vil corona” (“despicable crown”) was removed.
Macbeth was in every way a bold opera, and what matters most to us today
is that it was musically and dramatically bold. It was a pioneering piece—not the
first opera based on a Shakespeare plot, but the first that can truly be described
as Shakespearean, the first that altered operatic conventions to serve the play
rather than converting the play into traditional operatic formulas. As Macbeth
and Lady Macbeth’s speeches were composed, Verdi sent them out to his
principals, with repeated injunctions that they should study and declaim the
text, and serve the playwright rather than the composer. This was a new kind of
opera, he said. And it was.
Here and there, however, it compromised with tradition. Lady Macbeth
began Act II with a virtuoso showpiece, “Trionfai,” that Verdi did not compose
until he got to Florence for rehearsals and could hear exactly how his prima
donna most liked to display her particular specialities. And Act III ended with
a cabaletta for Macbeth in a somewhat similar vein. These were numbers that
Verdi pounced on when in 1864 he was invited to revise Macbeth for a Paris
production at the Théâtre Lyrique. He found them “either weak, or lacking in
character, which is worse still,” and rewrote them. But this Paris commission was
another challenge—in fact, a double one. The Théâtre Lyrique was considered a
Visit metopera.org 43
 Program Note CONTINUED

“progressive” house; Gounod’s Faust and Roméo et Juliette, Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs
de Perles, and Berlioz’s Les Troyens à Carthage had had their premieres here.
The management decided to mount Macbeth in deliberate and conscious rivalry
to the Opéra’s production of L’Africaine by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The revised
Macbeth was a round in Verdi’s long battle with this composer, which was not
decisively won until the triumphant Opéra production of Aida in 1880. Back in
Italy, however, the young Milanese intellectuals were declaring, in effect, that
Verdi was a back number, and that the future lay with such progressive operas
as Franco Faccio’s Amleto—featuring a libretto by Verdi’s future collaborator
Arrigo Boito—which was put on in Genoa, shortly after the revised Macbeth. (It
flopped, and Verdi was not displeased.)
From the first, Macbeth was regarded as an unusually spectacular opera. For
the Florence premiere, a special fantasmagoria, a kind of projector, was ordered
from Milan. In the end it was never used, since it only worked effectively in a
darkened theater, and in those days the house lights were not extinguished
during performances. In early programs for Macbeth, one can also find a special
credit for “the inventor of the chemical smoke,” and Verdi’s concern for scenic
effects is well documented. He was very impressed when the Genoa Opera
installed a Ferris wheel under the stage that brought the apparitions of the eight
kings magically and motionlessly into view. Designs for the Théâtre Lyrique
Macbeth survive and reveal a very large, sumptuous, and elaborate production.
When Verdi revised Macbeth, he did not merely replace Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth’s cabalettas—with, respectively, the extraordinary monologue-
aria “La luce langue” and the duet “Ora di morte.” The exiles’ chorus, “Patria
oppressa,” formerly a largely unison lament similar to the famous numbers in
Nabucco and I Lombardi, was rewritten, to the same text, as a wonderful study
in advanced choral sonorities. And a brief ballet was added. Verdi devised
the scenario himself, describing it as “a little action that fits very well with the
drama”: it involves Hecate’s visit to the witches, to instruct them how to receive
Macbeth (an idea based on the play). In several other places, the original music
was significantly tightened or retouched, but much was left unchanged: the
first scene; Lady Macbeth’s first aria, brindisi, and sleepwalking scene; Banquo’s
aria; and Macbeth’s “Pietà, rispetto, amore.” The finale was entirely rewritten.
Originally, after some lively battle music, Macbeth had a dying speech (“Mal
per me”), which was followed by a choral cry of acclamation for Malcolm. Verdi
rewrote the battle as a fugato, and Macbeth and Macduff now “exeunt fighting,”
as in Shakespeare. While the sounds of battle die down, first women and children
gather, then the victorious forces with their prisoners, a chorus of bards, and the
Scottish populace. They all join in a triple chorus in praise of Macduff, the hero
who has saved them, and of Malcolm, their rightful king.
—Andrew Porter

44
The Cast

Fabio Luisi
conductor (genoa , italy)

this season Macbeth, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, The Merry Widow, and the National
Council Grand Finals Concert at the Met; I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Norma, Die Frau ohne
Schatten, and Martinu° ’s Julietta at the Zurich Opera; and Lulu at the Dutch National Opera.
met appearances La Cenerentola, Madama Butterfly, Un Ballo in Maschera, Les Troyens,
Aida, Don Giovanni, Manon, La Traviata, Le Nozze di Figaro, Elektra, Hansel and Gretel,
Tosca, Lulu, Simon Boccanegra, Die Ägyptische Helena, Turandot, Ariadne auf Naxos,
Rigoletto, Don Carlo (debut, 2005), and Wagner’s Ring cycle.
career highlights He is Principal Conductor of the Met, General Music Director of the
Zurich Opera, and Principal Conductor Designate of the Danish National Symphony
Orchestra (taking up that position in 2017). He was formerly Chief Conductor of the Vienna
Symphony, and made his La Scala debut in 2011 with Manon, his Salzburg Festival debut in
2003 leading Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae, and his American debut with the Lyric Opera
of Chicago leading Rigoletto. He also appears regularly with the Vienna State Opera,
Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and Berlin’s Deutsche Oper and Staatsoper.

Anna Netrebko
soprano (krasnodar , russia )

this season Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and the title role of Iolanta at the Met, the title
role of Manon Lescaut at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Lady Macbeth in Rome, the title
role of Anna Bolena at the Vienna State Opera and in Zurich, and Mimì in La Bohème at
Covent Garden.
met appearances The title roles of Anna Bolena, Manon, and Lucia di Lammermoor,
Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Norina in Don Pasquale, Antonia in
Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Natasha in War and Peace (debut,
2002), Donna Anna and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Mimì and Musetta in La Bohème, Gilda
in Rigoletto, and Elvira in I Puritani.
career highlights Violetta in La Traviata and Mimì at the Salzburg Festival, Vienna State
Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and Covent Garden; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro at the
Salzburg Festival and Covent Garden; the title role of Giovanna d’Arco at the Salzburg
Festival; Ilia in Idomeneo and Gilda with Washington National Opera; Lucia and Juliette
with Los Angeles Opera; Micaëla in Carmen, Mimì, and Manon with the Vienna State
Opera; and numerous roles with St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre.

Visit metopera.org 45
NEW PRODUCTION | MET OPER A PREMIERE

THE DEATH OF
KLINGHOFFER
JOHN ADAMS
LIBRET TO BY ALICE GOODMAN

OCT 20, 24, 29 NOV 1 eve, 5, 8 eve, 11, 15 mat

Don’t miss this powerful Metropolitan

Opera premiere. For video clips, photos,
and tickets, visit metopera.org

Tickets start at $25

Orchestra seats from $80

PHOTO: RICHARD HUBERT SMITH / ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA

The Cast CONTINUED

Joseph Calleja
tenor ( attard, malta )

this season Macduff in Macbeth and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met, the
Duke in Rigoletto and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera,
Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera and Rodolfo in La Bohème at Covent Garden, and
Ruggero in La Rondine and Edgardo at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
met appearances The title role of Faust, Hoffmann in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Nemorino
in L’Elisir d’Amore, Rodolfo, Edgardo, and the Duke (debut, 2006).
career highlights He has sung Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles and Edgardo at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role of Roberto Devereux at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera,
and the title role of Faust at Covent Garden. Additional performances include the Duke for
debuts at Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Netherlands
Opera, and Welsh National Opera; Elvino in La Sonnmbula, Arturo in I Puritani, Roberto
Devereux, Rodolfo, Nemorino, and the Duke at the Vienna State Opera; Nicias in Thaïs and
Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden; Alfredo with the Los Angeles
Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Arturo and Faust with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Željko Lučić
baritone ( zrenjanin, serbia and montenegro)

this season The title role of Macbeth, Amonasro in Aida, and Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana
at the Met and Gérard in Andrea Chénier at Covent Garden.
met appearances The title roles of Nabucco and Rigoletto, Count di Luna in Il Trovatore,
Michele in Il Tabarro, Barnaba in La Gioconda (debut, 2006), Germont in La Traviata, and
Carlo Gérard.
career highlights He has recently sung Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera, Amonasro, and
Germont at La Scala; Scarpia in Tosca and Nabucco at the Vienna State Opera; Scarpia
with Munich’s Bavarian State Opera; Iago in Otello in Zurich; the title roles of Falstaff in
Frankfurt and Simon Boccanegra in Dresden; Rigoletto at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric
Opera of Chicago, and La Scala; and Simon Boccanegra and Macbeth at the Bavarian
State Opera. He has also sung Macbeth at the Salzburg Festival, Miller in Luisa Miller at
the Bavarian State Opera, Germont at the Vienna State Opera and Covent Garden, Don
Carlo in Ernani with the San Francisco Opera, Nabucco with the Dallas Opera, Iago with
the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Count di Luna and Rigoletto with the Paris Opera.

Visit metopera.org 47
CREAT E AN O P E R AT I C L E GACY

A scene from Die Zauberflöte

PHOTO: CORY WEAVER/METROPOLITAN OPER A

Plan Big
Did you know there are three simple ways
to make a gi to the Met that will truly have
an impact?
· Give to the Pooled Income Fund and receive
income for life (and save on taxes, too).
· Make the Met a beneficiary of your IRA,
401(k) or other retirement plan.
· Include the Met in your will or trust.

To learn more about the Met’s planned giving opportunities,

call us at 212.870.7388, email us at encoresociety@metopera.org,
or visit us online at metopera.org/legacy.
The Cast CONTINUED

René Pape
bass (dresden, germany)

this season Banquo in Macbeth, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, and a recital at the Met,
and King Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Méphistophélès in Faust, and Sarastro at the
Staatsoper Berlin.
met appearances Nearly 200 performances of 22 roles, including the title role of Boris
Godunov, Gurnemanz in Parsifal, Méphistophélès, King Philip in Don Carlo, King Marke,
the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte (debut, 1995), Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg,
Escamillo in Carmen, King Henry in Lohengrin, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Orest in Elektra,
Ramfis in Aida, and Rocco in Fidelio.
career highlights He appears frequently at all the world’s leading opera houses, including
La Scala, Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, Munich’s Bavarian State
Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as the festivals of Glyndebourne, Bayreuth, and
Salzburg. He also appears regularly with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony
Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Visit metopera.org 49
Facilities and Services
THE ARNOLD AND MARIE SCHWARTZ GALLERY MET
Art gallery located in the South Lobby featuring leading artists. Open Monday through Friday,
6pm through last intermission; Saturday, noon through last intermission of evening performances.
ASSISTIVE LISTENING SYSTEM
Wireless headsets that work with the Sennheiser Infrared Listening System to amplify sound are available
in the South Check Room (Concourse level) before performances. Major credit card or driver’s license
required for deposit.
BINOCULARS
For rent at South Check Room, Concourse level.
BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Large print programs are available free of charge from the ushers. Braille synopses of many operas are
available free of charge. Please contact an usher. Affordable tickets for no-view score desk seats may be
purchased by calling the Metropolitan Opera Guild at 212-769-7028.
BOX OFFICE
Monday–Saturday, 10am–8pm; Sunday, noon–6pm. The Box Office closes at 8pm on non-performance
evenings or on evenings with no intermission. Box Office Information: 212-362-6000.
CHECK ROOM
On Concourse level (Founders Hall).
FIRST AID
Doctor in attendance during performances; contact an usher for assistance.
LECTURE SERIES
Opera-related courses, pre-performance lectures, master classes, and more are held throughout the
Met performance season at the Opera Learning Center. For tickets and information, call 212-769-7028.
LOST AND FOUND
Security office at Stage Door. Monday–Friday, 2pm–4pm; 212-799-3100, ext. 2499.
MET OPERA SHOP
The Met Opera Shop is adjacent to the North Box Office, 212-580-4090. Open Monday–Saturday,
10am–final intermission; Sunday, noon–6pm.
PUBLIC TELEPHONES
Telephones with volume controls and TTY Public Telephone located in Founders Hall on the Concourse
level.
RESTAURANT AND REFRESHMENT FACILITIES
The Grand Tier Restaurant at the Metropolitan Opera features creative contemporary American cuisine,
and the Revlon Bar offers panini, crostini, and a full service bar. Both are now open two hours prior
to the Metropolitan Opera curtain time to any Lincoln Center ticket holder for pre-curtain dining.
Pre-ordered intermission dining is also available for Metropolitan Opera ticket holders. For reservations
please call 212-799-3400.
RESTROOMS
Wheelchair-accessible restrooms are located on the Dress Circle, Grand Tier, Parterre, and Founders Hall
levels.
SEAT CUSHIONS
Available in the South Check Room. Major credit card or driver’s license required for deposit.
SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
For information contact the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department, 212-769-7022.
SCORE-DESK TICKET PROGRAM
Tickets for score desk seats in the Family Circle boxes may be purchased by calling the Metropolitan
Opera Guild at 212-769-7028. These no-view seats provide an affordable way for music students to study
an opera’s score during a live performance.
TOUR GUIDE SERVICE
Backstage tours of the Opera House are held during the Met performance season on most weekdays at
3:15pm, and on select Sundays at 10:30am and/or 1:30pm. For tickets and information, call 212-769-7028.
Tours of Lincoln Center daily; call 212-875-5351 for availability.
WEBSITE
www.metopera.org
WHEELCHAIR ACCOMMODATIONS
Telephone 212-799-3100, ext. 2204. Wheelchair entrance at Concourse level.

The exits indicated by a red light and the sign nearest the seat The photographing or sound recording of any performance, or
you occupy are the shortest routes to the street. In the event of the possession of any device for such photographing or sound
fire or other emergency, please do not run—walk to that exit. recording inside this theater, without the written permission
of the management, is prohibited by law. Offenders may be
In compliance with New York City Department of Health ejected and liable for damages and other lawful remedies.
regulations, smoking is prohibited in all areas of this theater.
Use of cellular telephones and electronic devices for any purpose,
Patrons are reminded that in deference to the performing artists including email and texting, is prohibited in the auditorium at all
and the seated audience, those who leave the auditorium during times. Please be sure to turn off all devices before entering the
the performance will not be readmitted while the performance auditorium.
is in progress.

50