Considering one of the season’s star singers is a plus-size female impersonator, opera this fall is anything but a drag.
It starts tonight with a bang at BAM, with the 1976 “Einstein on the Beach,” arguably the greatest of all American operas. Avant-garde artists Robert Wilson, Philip Glass and Lucinda Childs crafted this mash-up of music and spectacle to run a hypnotic, intermissionless 4 1/2 hours. You can leave the theater at any time; chances are, though, you’ll be riveted; bam.org.
As always, the main game in town is the Met, whose Sept. 24 opening night features soprano Anna Netrebko in Donizetti’s frothy “L’Elisir d’Amore.” If your tux is at the cleaners, forgo that $1,450 ticket and see the show free on high-def screens at Lincoln Center and Times Square.
Coming up is a new production of Verdi’s tragicomedy “Un Ballo in Maschera,” based on the real-life, 1792 murder of Sweden’s King Gustav III. Director David Alden describes it as “a dreamlike tale of a king who laughingly plots his own death step by step.” Performances run Nov. 8 to Dec. 14, with an international HD simulcast Dec. 8.
Back again is that Met staple, Franco Zeffirelli’s luxurious production of Puccini’s “Turandot,” this time featuring Janai Brugger as the self-sacrificing slave Liu. The 29-year-old winner of last year’s Met National Council Auditions predicts her Oct. 30 debut will be a family affair: “My mother has been to every performance I have ever given,” she says. “I could be a tree on the Met stage, and she would be there.” For times and tickets to all of the above, visit metopera.org.
Another mother-daughter team highlights Dicapo Opera Theatre’s premiere of “The Martyrs,” opening Nov. 8. Playwright Daphne Malfitano was only 4 when she played the child in a French production of “Madama Butterfly” opposite her mother, American superstar Catherine Malfitano. Now, more than 20 years later, the young Malfitano’s penned the libretto for Thomas Pasatieri’s new work, starring her mom.
“I know this sounds like a mother kvelling, but believe me, it is not,” Catherine Malfitano says. “She amazes me every time with her writing!” Details at dicapo.com.
A drag act at the Met? Not quite, but Jeffery Roberson — a k a Varla Jean Merman — will take up residence only steps away from Lincoln Center when he stars in Gian Carlo Menotti’s musical thriller “The Medium,” starting Oct. 25 at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater.
The role of a scamming spiritualist is Roberson’s first opera, though Varla’s been known to sneak an aria from “Carmen” into her raunchy club act.
Roberson’s “Medium” is no sendup, but he warns, “At 6-foot-5 in sensible heels, I’m more like ‘The Extra Large.’ ” Info at themedium.brownpapertickets.com.
Finally, one of today’s most exciting conductors will have a one-night stand with one of the world’s most exciting tenors at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 23. Yannick Nézet-Séguin will lead the Philadelphia Orchestra in Verdi’s “Requiem,” featuring Rolando Villazón in a rare NYC appearance; carnegiehall.org.