The Metropolitan Opera Announces Cast Change

Dmitri Hvorostovsky has withdrawn from his upcoming opera engagements, including this spring's Met performances as the title character in Tchaikovsky'sEugene Onegin, due to illness. In June 2015, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and began treatment. However, balance issues resulting from the illness have made the performance of staged opera difficult, though he plans to continue performing in concerts, recitals, and the recording studio. A statement from Mr. Hvorostovsky is available below.

Mariusz Kwiecien and Peter Mattei will step into the role of Onegin at the Met for this spring's performances, with Kwiecien singing on March 30, April 3 and 7 and Mattei singing on April 12, 15, 18, and 22 matinee.

Eugene Onegin will be conducted by Robin Ticciati and will also star Anna Netrebko as Tatiana, Elena Maximova as Olga, Alexey Dolgov as Lenski, and Štefan Kocán as Gremin. The April 22 matinee performance will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 2,000 theaters in 70 countries around the globe.

Artist Bios

Mariusz Kwiecien sang Onegin in the 2013 premiere of Deborah Warner's staging, also opposite Netrebko. He has sung a total of 19 roles at the Met over the course of his 17-year career with the company, most recently the Duke of Nottingham in the company premiere of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux; Zurga in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles; Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro; Riccardo Forth in Bellini's I Puritani; and Belcore in Donizetti'sL'Elisir d'Amore. This season, he also sings Onegin at the Polish National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Met.

Peter Mattei made his Met role debut as Onegin in 2013. He has sung 118 Met performances of nine roles, including Figaro in Rossini's IL Barbiere di Siviglia, which he reprises at the Met this season; the title character in Don Giovanni; Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro; Amfortas in Wagner'sParsifal; Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades; and, last season, Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser. This season, he will also sing Onegin at Paris Opera, Count Almaviva at the Vienna State Opera, and Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlo at Zurich Opera.

Statement from Dmitri Hvorostovsky

To all my friends, fans and colleagues:

It is with great sadness that I must withdraw from opera performances for the foreseeable future.

I have been experiencing balance issues associated with my illness, making it extremely difficult for me to perform in staged productions.

I will continue to give concerts and recitals as well as make recordings. Singing is my life, and I want to continue bringing joy to people worldwide.

With this pause in my operatic career and more rest in between each engagement, I hope to have more time to focus on my health and treatment.

Thank you for all your love, messages and well wishes. Your support is felt and means the world to me.

With love,

DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY