Four Sopranos Star as the Title Diva in TOSCA, Beginning Tonight at the Met Opera

Beginning tonight, October 16, Puccini's Tosca returns to the Met for thirteen performances starring four sopranos as the tempestuous title character.

Oksana Dyka, who made her Met debut as Yaroslavna in Borodin's Prince Igor, returns to the Met to sing six performances of a signature role beginning October 16. Angela Gheorghiu, a noteworthy Tosca in major opera houses around the world, adds the role to her extensive Met repertory on October 29 and November 2. Maria Guleghina, who has sung 42 Met performances of Tosca since her 1991 company role debut, returns for two performances on November 6 and 11. Finally, Liudmyla Monastyrska-a notable Aida at the Met in two recent seasons-adds the Roman diva to her company repertory in the final three performances of the run. The casts for Tosca also include Italian tenors Roberto Aronica and Marcello Giordani as Mario Cavaradossi; George Gagnidze, James Morris, Željko Lu?i? (in a company role debut), and Marco Vratogna as the wicked Scarpia; and John Del Carlo as the Sacristan. Plácido Domingo and Joseph Colaneri will conduct this season's performances of Luc Bondy's 2009 production.

Oksana Dyka previously sang Tosca at La Scala, Berlin State Opera, Rome Opera, Estonian National Opera, Dalhalla Opera Festival in Sweden, Oper Frankfurt, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. She made her company debut in 2014 as Yaroslavna in Borodin's Prince Igor followed by the title character in Verdi's Aida in 2015. Later this year, she can be seen reprising her role as Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as Paulina in Prokofiev's Le Joueur at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Lisa in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame at the Zurich Opera.

Angela Gheorghiu has sung Tosca with the San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. She performed the second act of the opera in a gala presentation that opened the Met's 2005-06 season. Since her Met debut in 1993, she has sung multiple Puccini roles, including Mimì in La Bohème, Liù in Turandot, and Magda in La Rondine, as well as Violetta Valéry in Verdi's La Traviata, Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and Amelia Grimaldi in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. She will reprise the role of Tosca at Royal Opera, Covent Garden next year.

Maria Guleghina has sung the role of Tosca over 40 times at the Met. She also sang the role at La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. During the course of her career at the Met, she has sung numerous roles including the title characters in Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Turandot, and Bellini's Norma. She will also sing Aida and Leonora in Verdi's La Forza del Destino at the Mariinsky Theatre at the end of this year.

Liudmyla Monastyrska made her role debut as Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin followed by performances at Oper Frankfurt. She made her company debut in 2012 starring as the title character in Aida. Next year, she can be seen reprising the role of Aida at the Vienna State Opera and Paris Opera and Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco. This season, she can be seen as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the Met.

Roberto Aronica makes his Met role debut after previously singing Cavaradossi at the Opera di Genova and Greek National Opera. Following his company debut in 1998 as Alfredo Germont in La Traviata, he starred as the Duke of Manua in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Next year, he will reprise his role as Cavaradossi at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatro Regio di Torino, Il conte Loris Ipanov in Giordano's Fedora at Teatro di San Carlo, and Don Josè in Carmen at Teatro Massimo.

Marcello Giordani sang Cavaradossi at the Met in previous seasons, as well as the Bavarian State Opera; Vienna State Opera; Opéra Bastille; Teatro dell'Opera, Roma; and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He has sung over 220 performances at the Met since his company debut in 1993. His repertory with the company includes Verdi roles such as Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, Radamès in Aida, the title role in Ernani, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, and Gustavo in Un Ballo in Maschera. Giordani can be seen later this season at the Met as Manrico in Verdi's Il Trovatore.

Željko Lu?i? adds the role of Scarpia to his Met repertory after previously singing the role at La Scala and Vienna State Opera. He has sung ten roles with the company including the title roles in Verdi's Nabucco and Macbeth, Count di Luna in Il Trovatore, Amonasro in Aida, and Carlo Gérard in Giordano's Andrea Chénier. Next year, he will star as the title role in Nabucco at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Michele in Puccini's Il Trittico at Oper Frnakfurt, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, and Il Conte di Luna at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. During this season at the Met, he can also be seen reprising the title role in Rigoletto, as well as Iago in the season-opening new production of Verdi's Otello.

Roberto Frontali makes his Met role debut after previously singing Scarpia at the San Francisco Opera, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Teatro Municipal de São Paulo, and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. He made his Met debut in 1992 as Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore and has sung over 80 Met performances since including Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Germont in La Traviata, Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ford in Verdi's Falstaff, and Michonnet in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. Next year, he will sing the role of Michonnet in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in concert at La Monnaie and reprise Scarpia with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

James Morris has sung Scarpia over 80 times at the Met, his most frequent role with the company. His extensive repertory includes 970 Met performances of 57 roles. In recent seasons, he has sung Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi's Don Carlo, the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Oroveso in Bellini's Norma, and Claggart in Britten's Billy Budd. His other roles at the Met this season include Lodovico in the season-opening new production of Otello and Timur in Turandot.

Marco Vratogna has sung Scarpia at La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Arena di Verona, Semperoper Dresden, Valencia's Palau de les Arts, Teatro Regio di Torino, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He made his Met debut in 2013 as Iago in Otello. His other performances next season include Scarpia at La Fenice and Zurich Opera and Iago at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

John Del Carlo reprises Sacristan, a role he has sung multiple times at the Met. He made his company debut in 1993 as Kothner in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnburg and has sung over 260 times with the Met since. Recent credits with the company include Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Gonzalo in Adès's The Tempest, the title character in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, and Prince de Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur. He can also be seen at the Met later this season as Benoit and Alcindoro in La Bohème.

Plácido Domingo previously conducted Tosca at the Met during the 1991-92 season. He has led more than 100 Met performances of ten operas, including Un Ballo in Maschera, La Bohème, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, Rigoletto, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Verdi's Stiffelio, Aida, and La Traviata. This spring, he will reprise his role as the title character in a Met revival of Simon Boccanegra.

Joseph Colaneri last conducted Tosca at the Met during the 2009-10 season. He made his Met debut in 2000 leading La Bohème, and has since conducted multiple performances with the company including Don Pasquale, Lucia di Lammermoor, Rigoletto, Falstaff, and Nabucco. From 1987-1998, he was a conductor with the New York City Opera and has been a member of the conducting staff at the Met since 1998. Additionally, he is the director of the opera program at Mannes College of Music.

The October 16 performance of Tosca will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on November 2 and December 1. The performance on December 1 will also be streamed live on the Met's website, www.metopera.org.

For more information on Tosca including casting by date, click here.

Pictured: Angela Gheorghiu as Mimì in Puccini's LA BOHÈME. Photo by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera.

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