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Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Opera announced its upcoming season for this winter and next spring. While there was recently concern about the Met’s finances, resulting in layoffs, pay cuts, and the postponement of a planned new production, that didn’t stop the world’s largest opera company from planning 17 opera productions and six special events for the upcoming season.
The fall season starts off with a bang, as 10 operas will open before the end of 2026.
‘Macbeth’
Jon Bausor's set rendering for Louisa Proske's new production of Verdi's "Macbeth." Metropolitan Opera
The season will begin spectacularly on Sept. 22 with a new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Macbeth.” Based on the famous (or infamous) Shakespeare play about a power-hungry Scottish king and his avaricious wife’s blood-soaked ascension to the throne, Verdi’s 1847 opera didn’t make its Met debut until 1959.
This year, it makes its return with a star-studded cast led by dramatic soprano Lise Davidson, baritone Quinn Kelsey, and tenor Freddie De Tommaso. As of yet, no information has been released about the new production by groundbreaking young director Louisa Proske, but, judging from her track record, it’s likely to be a bleak, modernized, and cutting-edge interpretation of the epic classic.
‘Cosi Fan Tutte’
A scene from Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte." Richard Termine/Metropolitan Opera
The mood will change the following day, Sept. 23, abruptly, with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 1790 comedy “Cosi Fan Tutte.” This playful tale of love and deception was first performed at the Met in 1922 but didn’t gain worldwide popularity until after World War II.
Its month-long run will star soprano and mezzo-soprano Federica Lombardi and Samantha Hankey as the mischievous sisters, with tenor Duke Kim and baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky as their lovers. The Met’s current production by Phelim McDermott, first performed in 2014, updates the setting to a 1950s Coney Island-inspired theme park, satirizing the story’s ups and downs through a series of carnival rides.
A scene from Act II of Puccini's "La Bohème." Evan Zimmerman/Metropolitan Opera
Giacomo Puccini’s “La Boheme,” hailed as “the world’s most popular opera,” will be performed at increments throughout the season from Sept. 25 to April 29. The rotating casts will include sopranos Juliana Grigoryan and Ermonela Jaho as the doomed heroine, Mimi, and tenors Adam Smith and Atalla Ayan as her lover, Rodolfo.
Puccini’s 1896 drama of bohemian love and its tragic consequences in the scandalous Latin Quarter of Paris was first performed at the Met in 1900 and has since become the most performed opera in the company’s repertoire.
The lauded Franco Zeffirelli production, first performed in 1981, has been retained by the company as a work of genius that needs not be replaced.
‘Lincoln in the Bardo’
A set model by Adam Rigg for Lileana Blain-Cruz's world premiere production of Missy Mazzoli's "Lincoln in the Bardo" for the Metropolitan Opera. Metropolitan Opera
The Met will be presenting a brand-new work beginning on Oct.c 19. Based on George Saunders’s prize-winning 2017 novel of the same name, Missy Mazzoli’s “Lincoln in the Bardo,” with libretto by Royce Vavrek, will take audiences on a supernatural journey into “the bardo,” a Buddhist term for the realm between this life and the next, as President Abraham Lincoln struggles with the loss of his young son, Willie.
Featuring baritone Peter Mattei as the title character alongside renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and a talented ensemble cast, director Lileana Blain-Cruz’s otherworldly production will serve as the Met’s celebration of our country’s 250th anniversary.
‘Medea’
A scene from Cherubini's "Medea." Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Just in time for Halloween, Luigi Cherubini’s seldom-performed “Medea” will open at the Met on October 30. Based on an ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, Cherubini’s 1797 drama of a woman scorned was originally written in French as “Médée.” Today it’s most often performed in an Italian translation, which premiered in 1909 at La Scala.
The opera didn’t make its Met debut until 2022, when director David McVicar brought it to the stage with soprano Sonya Yoncheva in the title role. This striking production returns with the same star, now opposite tenor Michael Spyres. McVicar’s staging seems to suggest the era in which the work was written rather than its original setting, with late 18th-century costumes and a single opulent set, accented by projections and lighting effects.
‘Tosca’
A scene from Puccini's "Tosca." Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
What season would be complete without Puccini’s “Tosca,” the ultimate operatic drama about a diva who must choose between a fate worse than death and the life of her beloved?
Like “La Boheme,” this audience favorite will be performed on and off from Nov. 1 to May 27, with a rotating cast that includes sopranos Saioa Hernández and Aleksandra Kurzak, tenors SeokJong Baek and Roberto Alagna, and baritones Zeljko Lucic and George Gagnidze as the three leading characters.
First performed at the Met in 1901, Puccini’s 1900 melodrama stands out as a showpiece for the three main singers, featuring some of the most beautiful and dramatic arias in opera. McVicar’s unique yet traditional production, first performed in 2017, presents “Tosca” with all the opulence and grandeur it demands.
‘Jenufa’
Jenufa (Asmik Grigorian) in Claus Guth's production of Janacek's "Jenufa." Monika Rittershaus/Royal Ballet and Opera
On Nov. 16, things will turn dark with a new production of the Czech composer Leos Janacek’s “Jenufa.” Janacek’s 1904 drama of violence, betrayal, and forgiveness was first performed at the Met in 1924 and has only been revived a handful of times since. It now returns to the stage starring soprano Asmik Grigorian and tenor Sean Panikkar.
Director Claus Guth’s production received great acclaim at its Royal Opera premiere in 2021. This presents the opera in a stark, evocative, and symbolic manner that modernizes the feel of the work without updating the setting.
‘Samson et Dalila’
A scene from Act III of Saint-Saëns's "Samson et Dalila." Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
On Nov. 27, Camille Saint-Saens’s biblical epic “Samson et Dalila” will take the Met stage. Saint-Saens’s sumptuous interpretation of this tale of seduction and betrayal was first performed in 1877. In a German translation, it isn’t frequently performed, perhaps due to the scale necessary to stage the spectacular final scene. However, since its Met debut in the original French in 1915, the company has staged it at least once every decade.
This time around, the drama is led by tenor Clay Hilley (in his company debut) and mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina as the titular lovers. Darko Tresnjak’s larger-than-life production was first performed in 2018. It combines the work’s ancient setting with elements of modern architecture and fashion to create an over-the-top, showy spectacle.
‘Maria Stuarda’
A scene from Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda." Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
Gaetano Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” will come to the Met stage on Dec. 6. One of four Tudor-era operas by the composer, Donizetti’s 1835 tragedy tells a fictionalized version of the life and death of Mary Stuart, commonly called Mary, Queen of Scots. Notably, this work wasn’t performed by the Met until 2013, following its 2011 production of Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena.”
The production will star acclaimed bel canto soprano Lisette Oropesa as the title character with dramatic soprano Angela Meade as Elisabetta and tenor René Barbera as Leicester. McVicar’s dynamic production, first performed in 2012, presents the opera in all the Elizabethan grandeur of its historical setting while utilizing meaningful visual symbolism to highlight the drama and tragedy of the subject matter.
‘The Magic Flute-Holiday Presentation’
A scene from Mozart's "The Magic Flute." Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Beginning on Dec. 11, the Met will present its annual holiday tradition, an abridged English version of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” by Julie Taymor, first performed at the Met in 2006. It was first performed in 1993 with Zubin Mehta in Italy. This shortened production is only part of the unique Yuletide experience; audience members are also offered fun activities and photo-ops in the lobby before and after the performance.
The rotating casts will include sopranos Emma Marhefka and Kathryn Lewek, tenor Piotr Buzweski, and bass-baritone Gordon Bintner. Taymor’s staging, echoing her celebrated Broadway production of “The Lion King,” features puppetry, stilts, colorful costumes, dancers en pointe, and more to create a holiday spectacle for all ages.
Beyond 2026
These 10 operas are more than enough to make an impressive season, but they’re just the productions that will open in the remainder of 2026. Stay tuned for part 2 to explore the second half of the Met’s 2026-27 season.
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Rebekah Brannan is a 20-year-old ballerina, opera singer, choreographer, and writer. She danced two seasons with San Diego Ballet and co-founded Cinballera Entertainment with her sister, Tiffany, in June of 2023. In 2016, she and her sister started a blog dedicated to Old Hollywood, the Pure Entertainment Preservation Society, which she co-wrote, and she also enjoys fiction writing and video editing.
