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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Metropolitan Opera Cast Change: More Keenlyside Withdrawals

Received from the Met, and as worrisome as Simon Keenlyside's withdrawal from the NYPO premiere of Totentanz in the spring:
George Gagnidze and Željko Lučić will share the title role of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Met this fall, replacing Simon Keenlyside, who is taking a necessary period of vocal rest for much of the year and temporarily removing the role of Rigoletto from his repertoire. Gagnidze will sing the first seven performances of the opera, while Lučić—already scheduled to sing the December performances of the run—will also sing Rigoletto on November 13, 16, and 19.

Because both baritones were also scheduled to sing Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca at the Met, that role will now be shared between four singers: the originally scheduled Lučić and Marco Vratogna, as well as Roberto Frontali and James Morris.

Casting By Date

Rigoletto:        George Gagnidze (Oct. 20, 23, 28, 31, Nov. 4, 7, 10)
                        Željko Lučić (Nov. 13, 16, 19, Dec. 2, 5, 8, 12mat, 17)

Scarpia:           Roberto Frontali (Oct. 16, 21)
                        Željko Lučić (Oct. 24mat, 29, Nov. 2, 6)
                        James Morris (Nov. 11, 14mat, 18, 21)
                        Marco Vratogna (Nov. 25, 28mat, Dec. 1)
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5 comments:

  1. CruzSFJuly 30, 2015 at 9:37:00 AM PDT

    Mr. Keenlyside will turn 56 in a few days. I wish him well and would love to hear him live again. I wonder, though, if he is about to transition to smaller houses and more recitals (fewer performances at the Met, Covent Garden, and the War Memorial Opera House).

    At 56, he's had a good long career in the biggest spaces.

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  2. CruzSFJuly 30, 2015 at 9:40:00 AM PDT

    BTW, James Morris as Scarpia at the Met? I'd thought he'd transitioned to the Sacristan.

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  3. Lisa HirschJuly 30, 2015 at 10:59:00 AM PDT

    Re Morris, I KNOW, I KNOW. He is 67!

    I only recently heard Keenlyside in lieder,on the huge EMI Schubert Lieder on Record box, and he is wonderful (except "Heidenroslein" doesn't work so well for him) and I'd love to hear him in recital.

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  4. CruzSFJuly 31, 2015 at 2:55:00 PM PDT

    I heard Keenlyside when he was out a few years (maybe as much as 5?) in a recital at the Herbst. For most of it, he sounded great. He's a great singing actor (I mean that as a compliment). Only a couple of times did he sound pressed. I generally don't care for lieder but that night I was a fan.

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  5. CruzSFJuly 31, 2015 at 3:00:00 PM PDT

    Oh my goodness. My brain moves faster than my fingers.

    *I heard Keenlyside when he was out here a few years ago ...

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