NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Yuval Sharon, an American known for innovative productions, will direct the Metropolitan Opera鈥檚 next stagings of Wagner鈥檚 Ring Cycle and 鈥淭ristan und Isolde,鈥� both starring soprano Lise Davidsen and conducted by music director Yannick N茅zet-S茅guin.
The Met also said Tuesday that N茅zet-S茅guin's contract had been extended by six years through 2029-30.
Sharon's 鈥淭ristan" opens March 9, 2026. The Ring launches with 鈥淒as Rheingold鈥� starting the second half of the 2027-28 season, includes 鈥淒ie Walk眉re鈥� and 鈥淪iegfried鈥� in 2028-29, and will be completed with 鈥淕otterd盲mmerung鈥� in 2029-30. Davidsen will sing Br眉nnhilde, and there will be complete cycles in the spring of 2030.
Sharon was chosen by N茅zet-S茅guin and Met general manager Peter Gelb.
"We were both committed to a very highly theatrical Ring but we need at the Met to have something that is reaching seats that are pretty far from the stage," N茅zet-S茅guin said. 鈥淎fter a while, it became kind of evident for us that is should be Yuval.鈥�
Sharon, 44, has presented a at parking lots in Detroit and Chicago, the third act of 鈥淒ie Walk眉re鈥� in Los Angeles and Detroit with a green screen for animation and computer graphics, and Puccini鈥檚 鈥淟a Boh猫me鈥� to portray Mim矛 as getting healthier rather than succumbing to illness.
Sharon did not want to publicly discuss his Met projects, spokeswoman Amanda Ameer said.
鈥淗e wants to have the concept fully worked out before he starts talking about it,鈥� Gelb said. 鈥淚 would put that down as his artistic eccentricity, which I can sympathize with.鈥�
In addition, Davidsen will star in Verdi鈥檚 鈥淢acbeth鈥� opening the 2026-27 season on Sept. 22, 2026, with N茅zet-S茅guin conducting.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad if Lisa Davidsen has chosen the Met as being her house of choice,鈥� N茅zet-S茅guin said.
Davidsen plans a fully staged 鈥淭ristan鈥� before her Met production and will sing Br眉nnhilde in at least one of the Ring operas before New York.
Sharon founded The Industry Opera in Los Angeles in 2010 and has been since 2020. He became the first American to direct at the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, in 2018 with 鈥淟ohengrin.鈥�
Wagner鈥檚 "Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung)鈥� contains 15 hours of music over four days and is considered opera鈥檚 biggest, priciest challenge.
The Met announced in February 2021 a starting in 2025, with full cycles by 2026-27. The halfway through because of funding uncertainty.
Sharon鈥檚 production will replace a Robert Lepage staging that appeared in , 2013 and 2019, and gained infamy for 鈥淭he Machine,鈥� a 45-ton metal structure with 24 planks that malfunctioned on several occasions. New Yorker critic Alex Ross called it 鈥渢he most witless and wasteful production in modern operatic history.鈥�
The Met gave the Ring鈥檚 U.S. premiere in 1889 and has presented five integrated cycle productions since the start of the 20th century that include Franz H枚rth directing with Hans Kautsky鈥檚 sets (1914-44), Herbert Graf directing with Lee Simonson鈥檚 sets (1948-62), Herbert Von Karajan鈥檚 staging with G眉nther Schneider-Siemssen鈥檚 abstract sets (1975), and Otto Schenk鈥檚 Ring with Schneider-Siemssen鈥檚 traditional sets (1989-2004).
Met chair Ann Ziff will be lead funder of Sharon鈥檚 Ring, and Gelb said it likely will not be co-produced with another company.
N茅zet-S茅guin, 49, following the in 2016. A four-time Grammy Award winner, N茅zet-S茅guin has been music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012-13 and last year was given a contract through 2029-30. He has been music director of Montreal鈥檚 Orchestre M茅tropolitain since 2010.
As part of the Met's pivot to contemporary works, N茅zet-S茅guin is scheduled to conduct the company premieres of Mason Bates鈥� 鈥淭he Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay鈥� (opening 2025-26 season on Sept. 21), Gabriela Lena Frank鈥檚 鈥淓l 脷ltimo Sue帽o de Frida y Diego鈥� (May 14, 2026), Missy Mazzoli鈥檚 鈥淟incoln in the Bardo鈥� (Oct. 23, 2026), Carlos Simon鈥檚 鈥淭he Highlands" (March 8, 2027) and Huang Ruo鈥檚 鈥淭he Wedding Banquet鈥� along with also a new Robert Carsen staging of Mozart鈥檚 鈥淟e Nozze di Figaro.鈥� He will lead revivals of Mozart鈥檚 鈥淒on Giovanni,鈥� Puccini鈥檚 鈥淭osca鈥� and Wagner鈥檚 鈥淧arsifal.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to show a broad palette of composers,鈥� N茅zet-S茅guin said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 at the core actually of my mission, and this is also why I鈥檓 renewing. I feel like we just embarked on that journey.鈥�
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
