Cast Changes: Les Huguenots at the Opéra National de Paris

The upcoming revival of Les Huguenots at the Opéra National de Paris has now had two cast changes, and, well, yeah, they're the singers you just might have expected to cancel.

Diana Damrau was original cast as Marguerite de Valois, a role that Joan Sutherland sang in her prime. Damrau withdrew a few months ago, to be replaced by Lisette Oropesa. This puts me at Martha Argerich cancelation levels with Damrau; I saw her as Fiakermilli in Arabella in 2004 and in that well-traveled Laurent Pelly Daughter of the Regiment in SF with Juan Diego Flores. She cancelled Lucia in SF a few years ago, and now there's this. I've also heard suspicions voiced that she might withdraw from the incoming Traviata at the Met.

This week, it's tenor Bryan Hymel, cast as Raoul, who has withdrawn, to be replaced by Yosep Kang. Hymel was in SF in 2015 for Les Troyens and sang three of the six performances, replaced by Corey Bix for the other three. It might be easier to find a substitute Tristan than Raoul, because there aren't many singers with Raoul in their repertory. Meyerbeer was the most popular opera composer of the 19th century, but with few performances of his works these days, there aren't singers who can just pull roles from his operas out of their back pockets.