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The Metropolitan Opera will premiere “Lincoln in the Bardo” on Monday, days after another Met-commissioned work debuted in Warsaw, as the 143-year-old New York company continues to struggle financially.
The two premieres on two continents fall within four days. Met General Manager Peter Gelb, who told AFP that only being bold can pull the company out of its financial challenges, and that playing it safe would mean “certain failure.”
“Lincoln in the Bardo” adapts George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel about US President Abraham Lincoln and his struggle to confront the loss of his 11-year-old son, Willie, while facing heavy criticism early in the Civil War. US composer Missy Mazzoli wrote the opera.
It follows the Warsaw premiere of “The Mothers of Kherson,” which the Met also commissioned. The work tells the story of Ukrainian mothers who tried to save their kidnapped children after Russia’s invasion.
The Met views “Bardo” as politically relevant in a polarized United States, while “Kherson” addresses a war that continues to affect global politics.
Paul Cremo, who directs the Met’s commissioning program, has overseen “Bardo” since the company commissioned it eight years ago. The company commissioned “Kherson” in 2023.
Cremo spoke to AFP from Warsaw on the eve of the “Kherson” premiere and will attend the New York premiere. He said it's difficult to give both productions the attention they need when the premieres are so close together.
At a dress rehearsal this week, the production featured gargoyle-like puppets representing figures in the “bardo,” a space after death where souls remain unable to move beyond their past lives.
In the second act, Lincoln accepts his son's death, and his son appears as a ghost the father cannot see.
Cremo said creating the other-worldly setting, in which tendrils engulf singers and ghosts explode, challenged the Met’s technical staff.
Mazzoli said the opera reflects a divided America. She said it asks whether the bardo’s troubled figures can set aside their regrets and petty concerns “for the good of the soul of this one innocent child.”
The Met is trying to reverse annual losses and credit-rating downgrades, and it has seen declining audiences in recent years. The company has struggled to fill the theater’s 3,800 seats for revivals without major stars.
In September 2025, the Met announced a partnership with the Saudi Music Commission. The deal fell through amid Saudi cutbacks related to the US-Iran war.
The Met opened its season in September with a new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” and plans to present other classics in the coming months.
The Met has partnered with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to give away 70,000 tickets this season through the “Opera for All” program, announced last month.
The Met will not receive revenue from the city, but Gelb said the project brings the company closer to City Hall. Mamdani’s video announcement drew more than 10 million views on social media.
The company paired the announcement with the launch of the “Make the Met Forever” campaign to raise $1.5 billion.
Gelb said the two programs were designed together, adding that if people consider the Met indispensable, they may be motivated to support it.
Gelb also expects publicity around “Bardo” to support ticket sales.
He cited Saunders’ appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and the expected attendance of celebrities at Monday’s premiere, including pop singer Dua Lipa, who has more than 89 million Instagram followers.
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