• Thursday, Dec 22, 2022 / 7:30 PM
• Monday, Dec 26, 2022 / 7:00 PM
• Wednesday, Dec 28, 2022 / 11:00 AM
• Friday, Dec 30, 2022 / 7:00 PM
• Monday, Jan 2, 2023 / 7:00 PM
• Friday, Jan 6, 2023 / 7:30 PM

The Met’s abridged, family-friendly version of Mozart’s musical fairy tale returns for the holiday season, with Maestro Duncan Ward making his company debut conducting Julie Taymor’s irresistible production. Tenors Ben Bliss and David Portillo share the role of Tamino, the noble prince on a quest to win the fair princess Pamina, sung by sopranos Joélle Harvey and Sydney Mancasola. The cast also features baritones Joshua Hopkins and Chris Kenney as the bird catcher Papageno, soprano Aleksandra Olczyk as the Queen of the Night, and bass Soloman Howard as Sarastro. World premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791. A sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte in the original German) was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score.