Rossini’s ‘Guillaume Tell’ Hits the Bull’s Eye

Gioachino Rossini’s epic opera, “Guillaume Tell” (William Tell) is back at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 1931.

Bryan Hymel as Arnold and Marina Rebeka as Mathilde in Rossini's Guillaume Tell. Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

NEW YORK—Gioachino Rossini’s epic opera “Guillaume Tell” (“William Tell”) is back at the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 1931. While it had previously been performed here in German and Italian, this is the first time it is being sung in the original French.

This is an opera and a production where an audience gets its money’s worth. Clocking in at almost five hours, there are storms, battles, choruses, duets, famous arias, and ballets.

A scene from Rossini's "Guillaume Tell." Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera