Man Down

The Met press release says it all:

Carsten Wittmoser will make his Met debut as Kurwenal in tonight’s performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, replacing Evgeny Nikitin, who is ill.

German bass-baritone Wittmoser’s recent performances include Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida and Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata at Germany’s Mecklenburg State Theatre; Lord Sidney in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims and Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Ópera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; the title role in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer at Germany’s Theater Bremen and Switzerland’s Theater St. Gallen; Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio at Michigan Opera Theatre; and Cecco del Vecchio in Wagner’s Rienzi at the Bayreuth Festival.

Tonight’s performance of Tristan und Isolde is conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and also stars Nina Stemme as Isolde, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, Stuart Skelton as Tristan, and René Pape as King Marke.