Guillaume Tell Cast Change Announcement

Now there's an email subject line to strike fear into one's heart, if one watched Bryan Hymel withdraw from half of last summer's Troyens performances in San Francisco....but have no fear! The cast change is elsewhere in the cast:

Maria Zifchak will sing all eight performances of Hedwige in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell this season. She replaces Marianna Pizzolato, originally announced to sing all performances, who withdrew last week to star as Isabella in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri.

Maria Zifchak has sung more than 300 Met performances over the course of her 18-year career with the company. Her numerous other roles at the Met this season will include the Old Shepherdess in Janáček’s Jenůfa, the Slave in Strauss’s Salome, Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Giovanna in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata. Her other recent appearances with the company have included Ines in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Hannah in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, and Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, a role she has sung 83 times at the Met.

The new production of Guillaume Tell will be conducted by Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi and directed by Pierre Audi. Gerald Finley sings the title role, with Marina Rebeka as Mathilde, Janai Brugger as Jemmy, Bryan Hymel as Arnold, Marco Spotti in his Met debut as Walter Furst, Kwangchul Youn as Melcthal, and John Relyea as Gesler. Guillaume Tell opens October 18, with additional performances on October 21, 25, 29 matinee, November 2, 5, 9, and 12 matinee.