The season kicked off with an undisputable highlight: Verdi's Shakespearean drama Macbeth, starring Anna Netrebko in the vocally and dramatically demanding role of Lady Macbeth. It also includes other repertory favorites like Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Richard Eyre; Lehár’s operetta The Merry Widow, directed by Susan Stroman in her Met debut and starring Renée Fleming in the title role; the verismo double bill Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, directed by David McVicar; Bizet’s Carmen with Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili singing her signature role of the smoldering gypsy; and Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Vittorio Grigolo in the title role of the poet who is four times unlucky in love. Next to those most popular operas, also two operatic rarities where presented: Tchaikovsky’s lyrical fairy tale Iolanta, starring Anna Netrebko in the title role and presented in a double bill with Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle; and Rossini’s bel canto gem La Donna del Lago, starring Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez in the leading roles. Met Music Director James Levine returns to the pit for the production of Le Nozze di Figaro as well as Wagner’s brilliant human comedy Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.