Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Mother of All Cast Change Advisories

From the Met, about next season, with annotations in square brackets:


Gwyn Hughes-Jones will make his Met role debut as Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the September 29 matinee and will also sing the role on October 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, and 25. [He is replacing TBA and shares the role with Marco Berti. We had Berti here as Manrico a couple of years back and I thought him poor, but he was an excellent Calaf this past season, so who knows?] [P. S. The tenor's management company does not have a hyphen in his name.]

Carmen Giannattasio will replace Sondra Radvanovsky as Leonora in Il Trovatore on October 12, 17, 20, and 25. These performances are in addition to the previously announced dates when Giannattasio will sing the role.

Sondra Radvanovsky will replace Karita Mattila as Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera on November 8, 12, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, December 4 and 8 matinee. The role of Amelia for the performance of December 14 is TBA. The November 8 premiere of David Alden’s new production will be Radvanovsky’s Met role debut as Amelia. [Love Mattila but not in Italian opera. This is a win.] [Lee Abrahamian of the Met is quoted in the Times telling Dan Wakin that "Karita was engaged for Ballo five years ago, and she recently decided the role was not right for her."]

Marcelo Álvarez will sing Gustavo III in Un Ballo in Maschera on November 27, replacing Roberto De Biasio. Álvarez will now sing all performances of the role in the 2012-13 season.

Dolora Zajick will replace Olga Borodina as Amneris in Verdi’s Aida on December 19, 22, and 28. As previously announced, Borodina will sing the role on November 23, 26, 29 and December 3, 7, 12, and 15 matinee.

Erwin Schrott will make his Met role debut as Doctor Dulcamara in Bartlett Sher’s new production of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore on January 30. He will also sing the role on February 2, 6, and 9 matinee.

TBA will replace Sondra Radvanovsky as Elisabeth de Valois in all performances of Verdi’s Don Carlo in the 2012-13 season. [Hmmm! Racette?]

Italian baritone Marco Vratogna will make his Met debut as Iago in Verdi’s Otello on March 27. He replaces Thomas Hampson, who will still sing the performances on March 11, 15, 20, 23, and 30.

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