Viking christened its newest ocean-going vessel, the Viking Saturn, in New York today. As part of the event, the ship's ceremonial godmother, Ann Ziff, president of the Metropolitan Opera, offered a blessing of good fortune and safe passage for the vessel, a maritime tradition dating back thousands of years.
The ship will continue its inaugural season with two new Viking voyages: Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada, between New York and Reykjavik, and Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer, between Reykjavik and Bergen.
“This is a very proud day for Viking as we christen our new, identical ocean-going vessel in New York City,” said Torstein Hagen, President of Viking. “It is especially fitting that Ann Ziff, President of the Metropolitan Opera, one of the world’s foremost cultural institutions, has honored us by serving as godmother of the Viking Saturn.”
“It is an honor to be the godmother of the new Viking Saturn and to celebrate this momentous occasion in New York,” said Ann Ziff.
Following naming tradition, during the ceremony Ziff used the steel sword from the Metropolitan Opera's production of Verdi's Il Trovatore to cut a ribbon, which then broke a bottle of Norwegian aquavit against the ship's hull. The prop sword was originally used by baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the role of Count di Luna in David McVicar's production, which premiered in the 2008-2009 season. Before the ribbon was cut, Lady Fiona Carnarvon, Countess of Carnarvon, who is also godmother to the Viking Mars and a Viking ship, the Viking Skadi, presented the sword to Ziff.
As part of the ceremony, guests also enjoyed performances by Sissel Kyrkjebø, one of the world's leading crossover sopranos and godmother of the Viking Jupiter, and Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold. Following a celebratory dinner aboard the ship, Metropolitan Opera stars—soprano Susanna Phillips, tenor Charles Castronovo, and baritone Quinn Kelsey—delighted guests with a performance of operatic classics, including excerpts from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka, Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème, as well as a selection of American musical classics by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jerome Kern, and others.
