The Met has looked to a foreign government, to new strategies, even to outer space, in its scramble to find money to sustain the country’s largest performing arts organization.

Opera director Yuval Sharon has said that Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” is the hardest work in the traditional repertoire to stage.

Timothée Chalamet beefing with the Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera and Royal Ballet was not on anyone's 2026 bingo card. Chalamet, 30, raised eyebrows after making an off-handed comment about the performing arts community during an onstage conversation with Variety,

Yuval Sharon, known for his bold approach to opera, is making his Met debut with what he has called “the single hardest work” to stage.

As the Met Opera’s new Tristan und Isolde opens, the mezzo-soprano behind Brangäne talks performance rituals, favorite cities and life on the world’s biggest stages.