Russell Thomas to Replace Marco Berti in San Francisco Opera's NORMA, 9/14-30

San Francisco Opera today announced a cast change for the Company's current production of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma. American tenor Russell Thomas will sing the role of Pollione for the remaining five performances of the opera on September 14m, 19, 23, 27 and 30, 2014. Mr. Thomas replaces Italian tenor Marco Berti, who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons.

Mr. Thomas will make his Company and role debut in one of the most demanding bel canto tenor roles in the repertoire with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Music Director Nicola Luisotti. He joins an illustrious and critically acclaimed cast including soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (Norma), mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton (Adalgisa), and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn (Oroveso) in a new production directed by Kevin Newbury that recently opened on September 5. As the assigned cover (understudy) for the role, Mr. Thomas has been part of the rehearsal process for the production since rehearsals began in August.

This summer, Russell Thomas performed with Jamie Barton in the Metropolitan Opera's outdoor summer concert series. The New York Times said of the performance: "Three other rising stars - the soprano Amber Wagner, the mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and the tenor Russell Thomas, all in their early 30s - barnstormed their way through a daunting set of arias and duets...[Thomas's] voice was its robust, bronzed best in arias from Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Verdi's Macbeth. He was a committed, attentive partner...to Ms. Barton in [duets] from Norma and Verdi's Il Trovatore. The Norma selections were a reminder of Ms. Barton's triumph in that opera at the Met last season. On Monday, as then, her focus and plummy tone were extraordinary, and she blasted both high notes and lusty deep passages...[Wagner, Barton and Thomas] are, alas, precisely the kind of young American talents that used to shine at the late New York City Opera - so the time to experience them is now."

In the 2014-15 season, Mr. Thomas will sing the role of Pollione at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A Miami native and alumnus of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Mr. Thomas's engagements in the current season include Lazarus (Adams's The Gospel According to the Other Mary) with English National Opera, a role that he has previously sung with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; the title role of Faust and Manrico (Il Trovatore) with Michigan Opera Theatre; and a number of engagements with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, where he is the 2014-15 artist in residence. Other career highlights include the title role of Don Carlo with Deutsche Oper Berlin; Andres (Wozzeck), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Foresto and Uldino (Attila), the Steersman (Der Fliegende Holländer), and the title role of La Clemenza di Tito with the Metropolitan Opera; Gabriele Adorno (Simon Boccanegra) with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile; Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) with Welsh National Opera; the title role of Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Foresto with Seattle Opera; the Prince (Rusalka) with Opera North Carolina; and the title role of Les Contes d'Hoffmann with Toronto's Canadian Opera Company. He holds prizes from the Liederkranz Competition, the George London Foundation Competition, the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition, and Barcelona's Viñas Competition, among many others. Future engagements include returns to the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Canadian Opera Company, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Tickets for performances of Bellini's Norma are priced from $30 to $370 and may be purchased at sfopera.com or through the San Francisco Opera Box Office [301 Van Ness Avenue (at Grove Street), or by phone at (415) 864-3330]. Standing Room tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on the day of each performance; tickets are $10 each, cash only.