Paul Appleby and Kathleen Kim return to the Metropolitan Opera to make their debut as Belmonte and Blondchen respectively. John Dexter’s production of Mozart’s classic Die Entführung aus dem Serail is conducted by James Levine, and performances run from 22 April to 7 May.

Both regular guests at the Met, Paul Appleby is a graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Program, and has since performed regularly on the stage, most recently as Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress) and David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg). Kathleen Kim has appeared in a number of main stage productions — most recently as Oscar (Un ballo in maschera) and Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Both Paul and Kathleen also return to Glyndebourne this summer: Paul in Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict after his success last summer in the acclaimed production of Handel’s Saul and Kathleen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.