Met Opera shares 2022-23 season, Netrebko not in 'Lohengrin'

Soprano Anna Netrebko added to her list of cancellations, withdrawing from a new production of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” at the Metropolitan Opera that is among seven new stagings the company announced Wednesday for its 2022-23 season.

Nebrebko scrapped four performances of Verdi’s “Nabucco” at the Vienna State Opera from Nov. 1-12, saying she needed shoulder surgery. The 50-year-old then pulled out of four “Nabucco” performances at London’s Royal Opera from Jan. 14-24, with the company citing travel restrictions in Europe.

Netrebko did not respond to a request for comment made through her public relations representative, 21C Media Group.

Next season includes seven new-to-the Met productions, the most since 2012-13. Four are originating at the Met and three will move to New York after opening in Europe.

The Met, which resumes its season Monday following a scheduled four-week break, lost the entire 2020-21 season because of the pandemic.

While attendance was disrupted by the omicron variant, the Met has not missed a performance. Positive tests in the company had been under five per week early in the season but spiked to 70-120 from Dec. 11 to Jan. 15 before receding. The percentage of tickets sold dropped during that period, finishing the first half of the season at 64.2%.

Two of five new productions slated for the canceled season have been shifted to 2022-23: Ivo van Hove’s staging of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” starting May 5 and Simon McBurney’s version of “Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)” opening May 19. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra music director Nathalie Stutzmann will make her Met debut. She is scheduled to conduct both productions.

“There were many challenges, the challenges of trying to reschedule casts, challenges of moving creative teams to different times,” Met...