The refrain grasp on the Metropolitan Opera has one of many firm’s most demanding jobs. There are singers to corral, notes to right and centuries-old scores to pore over.
Donald Palumbo, who introduced the refrain to new heights throughout his 17-year tenure as refrain grasp, introduced final fall that he would step down in June. And on Wednesday, the Met introduced his successor: the German conductor Tilman Michael, who has served as refrain grasp of the Frankfurt Opera for the previous decade.
Michael, 49, who will be a part of the corporate firstly of the 2024-25 season within the function of refrain director, stated in an interview that he was longing for a “new and exciting” problem, describing the Met as “one of the most important opera houses in the world.”
“Choral singing and choral conducting is my life — it’s what I’ve done since I was a child,” he stated. “I’ve loved this work from the very first day.”
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s music director, who chosen Michael, stated in a press release that he was a “longtime collaborator and friend whose work I deeply respect.”
“I welcome him wholeheartedly to the Met family,” he stated. “He has an innate understanding of the complexity of the voice and draws out the best in the choruses he works with.”
Under Palumbo, 75, the Met refrain, with 74 common members and 85 extras, has turn out to be an equal associate with the corporate’s world-class orchestra.
Michael, who has additionally led the refrain on the National Theater in Mannheim, Germany, and served as an assistant refrain grasp on the Bayreuth Festival and the Hamburg State Opera, stated he hoped to construct on Palumbo’s legacy. He stated he felt a particular connection to the choristers when he traveled to New York in February to fulfill them and check out some repertoire. They labored collectively on Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann,” Puccini’s “La Rondine” and Kevin Puts and Greg Pierce’s “The Hours.”
“The Met Opera chorus is a fantastic chorus,” he stated. “But I think we can of course every day improve and search for new colors and search for new abilities.”
Michael stated he was wanting ahead to a manufacturing of Richard Strauss’s fairy-tale opera “Die Frau Ohne Schatten” subsequent season, in addition to to new operas by John Adams, Jeanine Tesori and different composers.
“When choral music is done well, it’s magic,” he stated. “It is just about listening to each other and creating a unique sound together — to feel this energy from your body, from your ears, in your heart.”
