The Metropolitan Opera

The following productions will be playing at the Met in New York in February-March, 2008.

Manon Lescaut, Puccini
Die Walkure, Wagner
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini
Carmen, Bizet
Otello, Verdi
Peter Grimes, Britten
Lucia di Lammermoor, Donizetti
Tristan und Isolde, Wagner
Ernani, Verdi
The Gambler, Prokofiev
La Boheme, Puccini.

I'm no opera aficionado -- indeed, I've never seen an opera performed live -- but even I can recognize that this is the traditional canon.

Except perhaps for "Peter Grimes," which is of a more recent vintage that the others. It premiered in 1945 in Sadler's Wells, London.

I mention the Sadler's Wells theatre for a reason. That particular theatre has a fascinating history of its own, going back to the 17th century when a businessman excavating gravel for use on roads, Richard Sadler, discovered a natural spring there. Hence the name of the place. The water from Sadler's Wells was soon reputed to be medicinal.

Here's more: http://www.sadlerswells.com/?page=complete-history

Anyway, here's a question for such of my readers who might have an informed opinion about the items on the above list. If you could only see one of them this season, which one would it be?