Strauss's 'Der Rosenkavalier' Returns with Met Opera to Celebrate 100th Anniversary of U.S. Premiere, Beg. 11/22

To commemorate the centennial of the opera's 1913 U.S. premiere at the Met, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier returns for a series of performances conducted by Edward Gardner and featuring a cast of international singers making company debuts and role debuts. Viennese soprano Martina Serafin sings her first Met performances of one of her signature roles, the Marschallin. Alice Coote, who currently stars as Detective Anne Strawson in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys, sings the trouser role of the Marschallin's young lover, Octavian, while Mojca Erdmann makes her company role debut as Sophie, the innocent young woman who comes between the two. Peter Rose reprises his acclaimed interpretation of the Marschallin's oafish cousin, Baron Ochs; Hans-Joachim Ketelsen sings Sophie's protective father, Faninal; and Eric Cutler returns to the role of the Italian Singer. On December 3, German mezzo-soprano Daniela Sindram will make her Met debut as Octavian, a role she will also sing on December 7 and 10. On December 13, French mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet will sing her first company performance of Octavian. At the December 3 performance, two graduates of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program will sing principal roles: Erin Morley as Sophie and Mario Chang as the Italian Singer.

Martina Serafin has sung the Marschallin with numerous major opera companies including San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Last season, she made her Met debut as Sieglinde in Wagner's Die Walküre. Also this season, she sings the title role in Puccini's Tosca at the Liceu and the Vienna State Opera; Elisabeth in Verdi's Don Carlo at La Scala; and the title roles in Puccini's Manon Lescaut (Hamburg State Opera) and Turandot (Bilbao Opera).

Alice Coote has sung Octavian with Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Geneva Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin; later this season she will sing the role at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. She currently sings the role of Detective Anne Strawson in the U.S. premiere of Nico Muhly's Two Boys at the Met; her other recent performances include Sesto in last season's new production premiere of Handel's Giulio Cesare and Hansel in the 2007 new production premiere of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Coote made her Met debut in 2006 as Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

Daniela Sindram has sung Octavian with numerous opera companies in her native Germany, including Dresden State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Karlsruhe State Opera, and Nuremberg State Opera. Her other recent performances include Adriano in Wagner's Rienzi at the Bayreuth Festival, Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Venus in a concert performance of Wagner's Tannhäuser at the Proms in London, conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Mojca Erdmann has sung Sophie at the Stuttgart and Vienna State Operas. Later this season, she will sing the role at Munich's Bavarian State Opera and Paris's Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She made her Met debut as Zerlina in the 2011 new production premiere of Mozart's Don Giovanni and returned last season to sing Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Eric Cutler sang his first Met performances of the Italian Singer in 2010. He has sung eleven roles with the company since his 2000 debut as the First Prisoner in Beethoven's Fidelio, including Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Arturo in Bellini's I Puritani, Léopold in Halévy's La Juive, and Iopas in Berlioz's Les Troyens.

Hans-Joachim Ketelsen sang Faninal at the Met in 2000, 2001, and 2009. He made his Met debut as Mandryka in Strauss's Arabella in 1994 and has also appeared at the Met in four Wagner roles: Telramund in Lohengrin, Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, and Amfortas in Parsifal.

Peter Rose sang Baron Ochs at the Met in 2000 and 2005. His other roles with the company have included La Roche in Strauss's Capriccio, Don Basilio in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Old Hebrew in Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila, and Bottom in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Erin Morley has sung 10 roles at the Met, including Madame Podtochina's Daughter in the company premiere of Shostakovich's The Nose and, last season, Constance in a revival of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites.

Géraldine Chauvet made her Met debut last season as Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito. In 2012, she made her New York debut as Adriano in an Opera Orchestra of New York presentation of Rienzi.

Mario Chang made his Met debut last season as an Esquire in the new production premiere of Wagner's Parsifal.

Edward Gardner, Music Director of the English National Opera, made his Met debut in the 2010-11 season, conducting Bizet's Carmen, and returned last season to lead a revival of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Also at ENO this season, he conducts performances of Fidelio, Britten's Peter Grimes, Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini, and the world premiere of Julian Anderson's Thebans.

Der Rosenkavalier Radio Broadcasts:

The November 22 opening performance of Der Rosenkavalier will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on November 25 and December 10.

The November 22 and December 10 performances will also be streamed live on the Met's website, www.metopera.org.

On February 22, an archived recording of one of this season's performances will be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For more information on this season's performances of Der Rosenkavalier, visit the Met's website at www.metopera.org.

Pictured: A scene from Act II of Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier." Photo Credit: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.