Leading sopranos Hui He and Ana Mara Martnez share the heartbreaking title role of the doomed geisha, with tenors Piero Pretti and Andrea Car as the American naval officer who abandons her. The great Plcido Domingo makes his role debut as Sharpless, alternating with Paulo Szot and Markus Brck. Pier Giorgio Morandi is on the podium for Anthony Minghellas sweeping production, a perennial audience favorite.

Director Phelim McDermott tackles another one of Philip Glasss masterpieces, following the now-legendary Met staging of Satyagraha. Star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is the title pharaoh, the revolutionary ruler who transformed ancient Egypt, with the striking mezzo-soprano JNai Bridges in her Met debut as his wife, Nefertiti. To match the operas hypnotic, ritualistic music, McDermott has created an arresting vision that includes a virtuosic company of acrobats and jugglers. Karen Kamensek conducts in her Met debut.