The Met’s 2026-27 season is almost upon us. It was excruciating to whittle the coming delicacies down, but here are the five I am most anticipating.

Best Opera: TIE: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Tristan und Isolde

Best Soprano: Rosa Feola, La Traviata…

At its essence, art exists to bring a little wonder and beauty into our lives. Can you honestly say that opera doesn’t do that? Come to the opera, Timothée. See for yourself.

If there exist people who don’t cry at Madama Butterfly, I don’t wish to know them. The luminous Ailyn Pérez’s performance confirmed her status as the Queen of the Butterflies…

We hear early on in Don Giovanni that the title cad has seduced 1,800 women, but the people seduced by the opera since its premiere is far too many to fit in Leporello’s little black book.

One might have to ascend to heaven to find a voice more seraphic than Ying Fang’s. She recently answered my questions on Mozart, Fidelio’s ending, and singing in the street.