One of the 21st century’s most powerful new works, this opera draws inspiration from the true events of the 1914 Christmas truce, when soldiers spontaneously set aside the horrors of the First World War and crossed the trenches to mingle, exchange gifts, and sing carols with the enemy.

Composer Kevin Puts (The Hours) returns to the Met with his Pulitzer Prize–winning first opera, hailed as “an overwhelming emotive experience” (The Guardian), in an evocative staging by director James Robinson (Champion, Porgy and Bess) that takes the audience directly to the battlefields of the Western Front.

CAST: Elza van den Heever, Ben Bliss, Rolando Villazón, Ben Reisinger, Mattia Olivieri, Justin Austin, Ryan McKinny, Kyle Ketelsen
CONDUCTOR: Dalia Stasevska
DIRECTOR: James Robinson

ESTIMATED RUNTIME: 3 hours, with one intermission

Refreshments will be available for purchase at the Coffee Bar, including fresh sandwiches, and are permitted in the theater.

Sponsors

The Met Opera simulcasts at Guild Hall are made possible in part through the generosity of: 

Grand Tier: Louise and Howie Phanstiel 

Dress Circle: Norma Giorgetti in memory of Mary-Anne Szabaga, Patti Kenner in memory of Judith and Gus Leiber, Ngaere Macray, Irene Silverman, and Norbert Weissberg. 

Balcony Circle: Gabrielle Bamberger, Susan Blair, Arlene Bujese in memory of Marcel Bally, Jeannette and H. Peter Kriendler Charitable Trust, Joan Osborne, and Veronica Stephens. 

We thank Ann and Gloria Cestone, in memoriam, for their love of opera. 

Performing Arts programs are supported by 2026 season sponsors Galia Meiri-Stawski and Axel Stawski, with additional lead support from Henry and Peggy Schleiff, The Melville Straus Family Endowment, Monica and Peter Tessler, and Vital Projects Fund. 

Guild Hall’s Performing Arts programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. 

Music Programming is supported in part by The Ellen and James S. Marcus Endowment for Musical Programming, and the Anne Wolf Concert Fund. 

Dance programming is supported by Principal Sponsors SHS Foundation and the Straus Family Foundation, with additional support provided by Bonita and Kevin Stewart. 

Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: Natascia Ayers and Jim Ciquera, Bonnie and Joel Bergstein, Gene Bernstein and Kathy Walsh, Amy Cooney and Marty Feinman, John and Joan D’Addario, Suzanne and John Golden, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Steve and Susan Pesner and Peace, in memory of Michéle Pesner, whose entire life was devoted to all aspects of culture, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Stacey and Oliver Stanton, Susi and Peter Wunsch, and Mrs. George Yates. 

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