Andrea Chénier, Umberto Giordano's masterpiece, a title that opens the Piermarini's 2017/2018 opera season, returns to La Scala in Milan after a 32-year absence. A highly anticipated event, not only because of the debut in the role of Magdalena by superstar soprano Anna Netrebko (thus marking her third season opener at La Scala, following 2011's Don Giovanni and 2015's Giovanna d'Arco) but also because of the La Scala debut of Yusif Eyvazov (Mrs. Netrebko's spouse, who has been keeping the Piermarini's gallery apprehensive for months now) and for the new direction signed by Mario Martone, who with Margherita Palli (composer of the sets) return to La Scala's handling of an opera by Umberto Giordano, after the success in May 2016 of their Cena delle Beffe.

Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Verdi’s grand tale of ill-fated love, deadly vendettas, and family strife, with stellar soprano Lise Davidsen as the noble Leonora, one of the repertory’s most tormented—and thrilling—heroines. Director Mariusz Treliński delivers the company’s first new Forza in nearly 30 years, setting the scene in a contemporary world and making extensive use of the Met’s turntable to represent the unstoppable advance of destiny that drives the opera’s chain of calamitous events. The distinguished cast also features tenor Brian Jagde as Leonora’s forbidden beloved, Don Alvaro; baritone Igor Golovatenko as her vengeful brother, Don Carlo; bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as Fra Melitone; and bass Soloman Howard as both Leonora’s father and Padre Guardiano.

Performance in memory of Mirella Freni and Nicolai Ghiaurov, great interpreters of Don Carlo and beloved citizens of Modena.

Soprano Angel Blue makes her long-awaited Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles.