Vittorio Grigolo to Sing Title Role in LES CONTES D'HOFFMANN at the Met, Beginning 1/12

Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann will return to the Met stage January 12, with Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo in his first company performances of the title role, a poet whose attempts at romance are repeatedly thwarted.

Thomas Hampson will add a new role to his extensive repertory as the Four Villains who interfere with Hoffmann's courtship of four women: the mechanical doll Olympia, sung by American soprano Erin Morley in her role debut; the consumptive artist Antonia and the self-absorbed actress Stella, both portrayed by Russian soprano Hibla Gerzmava; and the Venetian courtesan Giulietta, sung by English mezzo-soprano Christine Rice. American mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey will reprise the role of Nicklausse, Hoffmann's muse, which she sang in the 2009 premiere of Bartlett Sher's production. Canadian conductor Yves Abel will lead the first six performances of Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Met this season, including the January 31 matinee, which will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series.

Beginning February 28, Met Music Director James Levine will conduct a new cast for six performances through March 21. American tenor Matthew Polenzani stars as Hoffmann, with American sopranos Audrey Luna as Olympia and Susanna Phillips as Antonia; Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Maximova as Giulietta; French mezzo-soprano Karine Deshayes as Nicklausse; and French bass-baritone Laurent Naouri as the Four Villains. All six principals will be singing their first Met performances of these roles. In another company role debut, Jennifer Johnson Cano will sing Nicklausse in the final performance of the season on March 21.

Vittorio Grigolo sang the title role in Les Contes d'Hoffmann with Zurich Opera in 2011. He made his Met debut as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème in 2010, a role he repeated here last season. In 2013, he returned to the Met to sing the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto. In March, he will make another company role debut as the Chevalier des Grieux in a revival of Massenet's Manon.

Erin Morley is a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She has sung ten roles with the company, including Sophie in last season's revival of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Constance in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, and Madame Podtochina's daughter in the Met premiere of Shostakovich's The Nose.

Hibla Gerzmava made her Met debut as Antonia and Stella in 2010. In subsequent seasons, she has sung Mimì in La Bohème and Liù in Puccini's Turandot at the Met. She has sung all four heroines in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Moscow's Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre.

Christine Rice made her Met debut in December as Hansel in the Met's holiday presentation of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. She has previously sung Giulietta with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. In 2012, she sang Nicklausse in a new production of The Tales of Hoffmann at English National Opera.

Nicklausse is one of 13 roles Kate Lindsey has sung at the Met, where she made her debut in 2005 as Javotte in Manon. Her company repertory also includes Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Annio in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, Siébel in Gounod's Faust, and the Kitchen-Boy in Dvo?ák's Rusalka.

Thomas Hampson has sung more than 200 Met performances in a variety of roles. Last season, he made his role debut as the title character in Berg's Wozzeck. His other recent performances with the company have included Iago in Verdi's Otello, Germont in Verdi's La Traviata, and the title roles in Verdi's Macbeth and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

Yves Abel leads his first Met performances of Les Contes d'Hoffmann this season. He made his company debut in 1993 conducting Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and has also led Met performances of La Traviata, Bizet's Carmen, Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment, and Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Last season, he conducted Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Seattle Opera.

Matthew Polenzani has sung more than 300 performances of 32 different roles at the Met. In recent seasons, his performances with the company have included Ferrando in Mozart's Così fan tutte, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Nemorino in the 2012-13 season-opening production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and Leicester in the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. He has sung Hoffmann with San Francisco Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Audrey Luna sang Ariel in the Met premiere of Thomas Adès's The Tempest in 2012. Her other appearances with the company include the Queen of the Night in the holiday presentation of Mozart's The Magic Flute, Najade in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, and Fiakermilli in last season's performances of Strauss's Arabella. Earlier this season, she sang Olympia with the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo.

Susanna Phillips has sung five previous roles with the Met: Musetta in La Bohème, the role of her 2008 debut, which she reprised earlier this season; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte; Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte; Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni; and Rosalinde in last season's new production of Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

Elena Maximova made her Met debut last season as Olga in the new production of Eugene Onegin. She has previously sung Nicklausse at Moscow's Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre. This season, she sings four roles at the Vienna State Opera: Maddalena in Rigoletto, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Marfa in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, and Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo.

Karine Deshayes's past roles at the Met include Siébel in Faust and Isolier in Rossini's Le Comte Ory. Earlier this season, she sang Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Paris Opera and the title role in Rossini's La Cenerentola at San Francisco Opera.

Laurent Naouri made his Met debut in 2012 as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. He has sung the Four Villains at Zurich Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, and La Scala.

James Levine has conducted Les Contes d'Hoffmann 21 times with the Met, including the premiere performances of the current production in the 2009-10 season. Earlier this season, he led the opening night new production of Le Nozze di Figaro and a revival of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. This season he will also conduct Verdi's Ernani and Un Ballo in Maschera and Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. Over the course of his 44-year career at the Met, he has led more than 2,450 performances.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann Live in HD and Radio Broadcasts:

Les Contes d'Hoffmann will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 69 countries, on January 31 at 12:55 p.m. Eastern time. Soprano Debbie Voigt hosts the transmission.

The January 12 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on January 27 and 31 and March 5. The January 12 and March 5 performances will also be streamed live on the Met's Web site, www.metopera.org.

The January 31 performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For more information on Les Contes d'Hoffmann, including casting by date, click here.

Pictured: Vittorio Grigolo sings the title role of Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffmann." Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.