Patricia Racette and Roberto Alagna Star in Puccini’s Tosca 1/10

Patricia Racette will return to the title role of Puccini's Tosca, which she sang at the Met to great acclaim in the 2009-10 season, for six performances beginning January 10. Roberto Alagna and Aleksandrs Antonenko (in his Met role debut) will alternate as the heroic Cavaradossi, while George Gagnidze and James Morris will return to the role of the lustful Baron Scarpia. Rising Finnish conductor Mikko Franck, who is the Artistic Director and General Music Director of the Finnish National Opera, will lead all six performances in his Met debut.

Racette gave an acclaimed and vivid portrayal of the tortured diva Tosca at the Met in spring 2010. She has also sung the role with the Washington National Opera, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, and the Houston Grand Opera. Since her debut as Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème in the Met's 1994-95 season, she has gone on to sing many of the composer's heroines, including Mimì in La Bohème; the lead soprano roles in Il Tabarro, Suor Angelica, and Gianni Schicchi, the operas that compose Il Trittico; and Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, a role she repeats at the Met later this season.

Alagna made an unexpected house role debut as Cavaradossi at the Met last season, as a last-minute replacement for his ailing colleague Marcelo Álvarez. In addition to Alagna's performances in Tosca on January 10 and 14, he will sing the title role in Gounod's Faust on December 23 and 28. Antonenko, who takes the role beginning January 18, made his debut as the Prince in Dvo?ák's Rusalka in the Met's 2008-09 season and has since sung notable performances of Luigi in Il Tabarro (opposite Racette) and Grigory in the new production premiere of Boris Godunov. Gagnidze first sang Scarpia in the premiere of Luc Bondy's production, which opened the Met's 2009-10 season. Scarpia is one of Morris's most frequent Met roles; he has sung it more than 75 times with the Met since his role debut in the 1990-91 season.

Paul Plishka will sing the role of the Sacristan in all performances of Tosca this season, in what will be his final performances at the Met. Plishka made his debut as a monk in Ponchielli's La Gioconda on September 21, 1967. He has sung more than 1,600 Met performances in 88 roles, including the title roles in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Verdi's Falstaff, Philip II in Don Carlo, and Leporello in Don Giovanni, and will be honored with an onstage presentation during his final Met performance on January 28.

The January 10 season premiere of Tosca will be dedicated to the memory of tenor Salvatore Licitra, who died in a tragic motorcycle accident this year. His last performances at the Met, in spring 2010, were in the role of Cavaradossi.

Tosca Radio Broadcasts
The January 10 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on January 18 and 28.
The January 10 performance will also be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For More Information, Go to the Met's Web Site
For more information, including bios of the performers and production team, and general information about the Met season, please visit the Met's Web site at http://www.metoperafamily.org/