Met Opera to present Blanchard's 'Champion' in April 2023
The Metropolitan Opera will present its premiere of Terence Blanchard's first opera, "Champion," about closeted gay boxer Emile Griffith, in April 2023 following the success of the composer's "Fire Shut Up in My Bones" on the opening night of this season. “Champion” premiered at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis on June 15, 2013. Blanchard and librettist Michael Cristofer intend to make revisions for the Met performances, which will be in a revamped version of the original James Robinson production. Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, emphasizing 21st century music in his repertoire, will conduct a cast starring bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the young Griffith, bass-baritone Eric Owens as the retired boxer and soprano Latonia Moore as the boxer's mother. The Met will present its second work by a Black composer, Anthony Davis’ 1986 work “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” starting Nov. 3, 2023.
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