San Francisco Opera Cast Changes, 2014-15 and 2015-16 Seasons

Well, that was fast: only six weeks after the season announcement, we've got the first cast change announcement from San Francisco Opera:

• Ukranian baritone Vitaliy Bilyy will sing Miller in next season's Luisa Miller, replacing Thomas Hampson, who has decided "after careful consideration" not to add the role to his repertory. Good decision, Tom.* 
• Elizabeth Futral will sing the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd. This fills a TBA.
• Dimitri Pittas replaces Stephen Costello in Marco Tutino's La Ciocciara. Costello has stepped out of the role for personal reasons. This will be in June, 2015.

* As I said last month: "Hampson, really? Still not convinced he's a Verdi baritone, but this is a lighter role than Anckarstrom."