House of Cards

From the Met press office:

Yusif Eyvazov will sing Hermann in the performances of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades on December 8, 14, and 21, replacing Aleksandrs Antonenko. As scheduled, Antonenko will sing the role on November 29 and December 2 and 5, and Kristian Benedikt will perform the role on December 18.

Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov made his role debut last season as Dick Johnson in the Met’s production of La Fanciulla del West. In 2018, he made a Met role debut as Cavaradossi opposite Anna Netrebko in Puccini’s Tosca. He made his Met debut in 2015 singing Calàf in Puccini’s Turandot and also performed at the Met’s 50 Years at Lincoln Center gala. Recent performances include Hermann and the title role of Don Carlo at the Bolshoi Theatre, the title role of Andrea Chénier at Vienna State Opera, and Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Upcoming roles include Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur in concert at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Manrico in Il Trovatore at Vienna State Opera, and Cavaradossi and Calàf in the Met’s New Year’s Eva gala.

The cast for The Queen of Spades includes Lise Davidsen in her Met debut as Lisa, Elena Maximova as Pauline, Larissa Diadkova as the Countess, Igor Golovatenko in his Met debut as Yeletsky, and Alexey Markov as Tomsky. Vasily Petrenko conducts in his Met debut.

Performances of The Queen of Spades begin November 29, 2019 and run through December 21, 2019.

One certainly wonders what's up here.