Puccini’s La Bohème returns to the Met stage April 21

  • Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Puccini’s timeless tragedy for the first time at the Met 
  • Two casts appear throughout the spring 2023 season—Eleonora Buratto and Stephen Costello, followed by Susanna Phillips and Charles Castronovo, are Mimì and Rodolfo

         New York, NY (April 4, 2023)Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, conducts Puccini’s La Bohème for the first time at the Met, starting April 21. The 14-performance run features two star-studded casts. Soprano Eleonora Buratto, who reprises her role from last season as the tragic heroine Mimì, and tenor Stephen Costello, as the poet Rodolfo, lead the first cast. Joining Buratto and Costello are soprano Sylvia D’Eramo and baritone Davide Luciano, both making their Met role debuts as the on-again, off-again couple Musetta and Marcello. Baritone Alexey Lavrov is Schaunard, bass-baritone Christian Van Horn is Colline, and baritone Donald Maxwell is Benoit and Alcindoro.

         Maestro James Gaffigan takes over the podium starting May 26, leading a cast that stars soprano Susanna Phillips as Mimì and tenor Charles Castronovo as Rodolfo. Soprano Latonia Moore makes her role debut as Musetta, following her performances as Emelda Griffith in Terence Blanchard’s Champion, and baritone Quinn Kelsey, much praised for his portrayal of Rigoletto earlier this season, returns as Marcello. Baritone Iurii Samoilov is Schaunard, bass Krzysztof Bączyk is Colline, and Maxwell is Benoit and Alcindoro.

         Maestro Paolo Carignani conducts the performances on May 11, 17, and 20. Soprano Leah Hawkins makes her Met role debut as Musetta on May 11, with subsequent performances on May 17 and 20. Bass Philip Cokorinos sings Benoit and Alcindoro on May 11 and June 9.

         La Bohème remains the most performed opera in Met history, with 1,359 appearances since its first performance on November 9, 1900. The classic production by Franco Zeffirelli premiered on December 14, 1981.

La Bohème Worldwide Broadcasts on Radio and Online

         The April 21, May 6, and June 9, 2023, performances of La Bohème will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM channel 355. The May 6, 2023 performance will also be broadcast over the Toll Brothers–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Audio from the April 21 and June 9 performances will also be streamed live on the Met’s website, metopera.org.

For More Information

         For further details on La Bohème, please click here.