Metropolitan Opera Names ‘Yannick Nézet-Séguin’ as Music Director

The announcement that Yannick Nézet-Séguin would replace James Levine as music director of the Metropolitan Opera was no surprise.

It is the first time in four decades that the opera house will have a new music director. Levine, who stepped down last month, had missed two full seasons after a spinal injury in 2011 and struggled through other health issues over the years. During his tenure he conducted more than 2,500 performances with the company.

Nézet-Séguin is inheriting a Met that is facing financial challenges and poor ticket sales. It only filled 72 percent of its seats this season, on average. The highly-sought-after conductor will not officially start his position until the 2020–2021 season, and will split his time between the Met and the Philadelphia Orchestra until the 2025–2026 season.

“I’m very, very lucky, of course—maybe the luckiest music director—to be able to have what I believe to be the two greatest, arguably, organizations in the United States, symphonically and operatically: the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Met,” Nézet-Séguin said.

After his Met debut in 2009 with a new production of “Carmen,” he will will present Wagner’s “Der Fliegende Hollander” for the first time next season.

Agencies/Canadajournal