La Donna Del Lago at the Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera will present Rossini’s La Donna del Lago for the first time in Met history from February 16th to March 14th. In addition there will be an HD transmission of the March 14th performance, and the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network will carry the March 14th performance as well. The February 16th premier will be live-streamed from the Met’s website.

It has taken the Met a long time to mount this opera, although Rossin is second only to Verdi in the number of works performed by the Met – this fact appears on the placard next to the bust of Rossini displayed in the Met basement!

But finally the stars aligned with an ideal cast featuring Juan Diego Flores, Joyce DiDonato, and Daniela Barcellona. Equally important, the conductor will be Michaele Mariotti, a Rossinian par excellence. They recently appeared together in La Donna del Lago at Covent Garden albeit in a different production.

What do you need to know to enjoy this opera? Nothing in particular, really. Alberto Zedda, the scholar and music director of the Rossini Opera Festival summed it up: “La Donna del Lago is a very beautiful opera, fascinating and mysterious, among the best by a composer to whom mediocrity is a stranger.”

But, if you wish to learn more about La Donna del Lago, check out Forum Rossiniano

The woman in the painting is Isabella Colbran, who appeared in the first performance of La Donna del Lago in 1819.