SANTA FE OPERA ANNOUNCES 2015 SEASON CAST CHANGE UPDATE
Tenor Bruce Sledge will replace Bryan Hymel in all remaining
performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto as The Duke of Mantua
Tenor Bruce Sledge will replace Bryan Hymel in all remaining
performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto as The Duke of Mantua
SANTA FE, NM – General Director Charles MacKay announced today that tenor Bruce Sledge, who had been previously announced as singing the role of The Duke of Mantua in the July performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto, will replace Bryan Hymel for all remaining performances of Rigoletto.
It was announced in early June that Mr. Hymel had withdrawn from the July performances of Rigoletto citing difficulty in committing to both performances of The Trojans at San Francisco Opera and rehearsals in Santa Fe. In a recent statement, Hymel said “Although I deeply regret having to withdraw from the production ofRigoletto at Santa Fe Opera, doctors have advised a period of rest to deal with the exhaustion caused from a heavy performance schedule this past season. I wish my colleagues all the best in their remaining performances.”
“We wish Bryan Hymel a fast recovery, but we know that the role of The Duke is in good hands with Bruce Sledge,” said Charles MacKay. “Bruce was praised by critics and audience members alike at the opening night performance on July 4, and we feel incredibly fortunate that this outstanding tenor is able to step into this role for the rest of the season.”
No stranger to Santa Fe Opera audiences, tenor Bruce Sledge made his Company debut as Count Almaviva opposite Ana María Martínez as Rosina in The Barber of Seville (2005). He returned to rave reviews as Paulo Erisso in Maometto II (2012) and was seen last season in the dual roles of Vladimir Vladimirescu and the Fisherman in the double bill of Mozart’s The Impresario and Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol. “Bruce Sledge sang with appealing lyricism as Vlada’s henpecked husband,” said Opera News of his 2014 performance, “then performed to glorious poetic effect as the Fisherman.” Of his opening night as The Duke of Mantua in Santa Fe Opera’s Rigoletto (2015), The New Mexican said that he brought both “vocal lightness and musical clarity to the role.”
Here is Hymel's performance schedule, as reported by OperaBase.com; I'll say it's heavy, considering the number and variety of the roles and the travel involved.
Dec 15  | La Damnation de Faust | Faust fr | Paris(Opera) | C: Philippe Jordan; D: Hermanis | |
| Oct 15-May 16 | La boheme | Rodolfo it | New York(Met) | C: Carignani / D Ettinger; D: Zeffirelli | |
| Oct-Nov 15 | Carmen | Don José fr | London(RO) | C: Bertrand de Billy / Alexander Joel; D: Zambello | |
| Sep 15 | Carmen | Don José | Washington(WO) | C: Rogister; D: Meeker | |
| Jul-Aug 15 | Rigoletto | Il Duca di Mantova it | Santa Fe | C: Bignamini; D: Blakeley | |
| Jun-Jul 15 | Les troyens | Aeneas fr | San Francisco(SFO) | C: Runnicles; D: McVicar | |
| Mar 15 | La boheme | Rodolfo it | Dallas | C: Frizza; D: Peter Kazaras | |
| Jan 15 | Guillaume Tell | Arnold fr | München(SO) | C: D Ettinger; D: Antú Romero Nunes / Johannes Hofmann | |
| Dec 14-Jan 15 | Anna Bolena | Lord Percy it | Chicago(Opera) | C: Patrick Summers; D: Newbury | |
| Oct 14 | Carmen | Don José | New Orleans | C: Lyall; D: B Dalton | |
| Sep 14-Jan 15 | La boheme | Rodolfo it | New York(Met) | C: Frizza; D: Zeffirelli |
4 comments:
I'm disappointed but not surprised. Can hardly wait to get to Santa Fe.
I'm skipping Santa Fe this year; decided that with Bayreuth 2 weeks later it would be a bad idea to try to catch Cold Mountain. There's not much else that really interests me on the schedule.
Maybe he just can't say no.
I'd like to hear him in Guillaume Tell. Now that SF Opera has just produced Les Troyens, will something as big as GT need to wait a few (5) years before they can afford to stage it here?
Your guess is as good as mine!
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