Grigolo & Kovalevska Lead LA BOHEME's Returns to the Met Beginning 10/16

Puccini's classic love story La Bohème returns to the Metropolitan Opera on October 16 for an extended run of performances, starring some of opera's most celebrated young stars in the roles of Mimì and Rodolfo. Franco Zeffirelli's production, an audience favorite since 1981, will be conducted by Roberto Rizzi Brignoli in his Met debut.

The opening run of performances will feature the Met debut of Vittorio Grigolo as Rodolfo. The 33-year-old Italian tenor's recent performance in Manon at Covent Garden led the Guardian to praise him for "the most sensational debut to be heard at Covent Garden for some time . . . a voice that flows, terrific looks, an instinctive sense of theatre."

Grigolo's Mimì, the young Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska, had a great success in the role in 2006 and 2008 at the Met. Met audiences have also enjoyed Kovalevska as Micaëla in Carmen, Liù in Turandot, and Euridice in the 2007 new production premiere of Mark Morris's Orfeo ed Euridice. Grigolo and Kovalevska will be joined by Fabio Capitanucci and Takesha Meshé Kizart, making their Met debuts as Marcello and Musetta; Edward Parks as Schaunard; and Shenyang as Colline. Paul Plishka will sing the roles of Benoit and Alcindoro for all performances of La Bohème this season.

Three star tenors will sing Rodolfo in later performances. Joseph Calleja, who triumphed in the demanding title role of last season's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, will make his Met role debut in a December run of performances. On January 31, Piotr Becza?a, whose Spring 2010 Rodolfos opposite Anna Netrebko led to sold-out houses and rave reviews, will take over the role. Ramón Vargas, who starred in the Met's "Live in HD" transmission of the production in 2008, steps into the role on February 17.

On December 1, Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova will make her Met role debut as Mimì, a part she has sung to great acclaim with the Vienna State Opera. Stoyanova has performed many roles at the Met, including Violetta in La Traviata, Micaëla in Carmen, Liù in Turandot, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. Performers in later casts of La Bohème include Peter Mattei as Marcello; Ellie Dehn and Susanna Phillips as Musetta; Trevor Scheunemann and Dimitris Tiliakos as Schaunard; and Gunther Groissböck as Colline. Tiliakos and Groissböck will be making their Met debuts.

The production features sets by Zeffirelli, costume design by Peter J. Hall, and lighting design by Gil Wechser.

Live Broadcasts Around the World
La Bohème will be experienced by millions of people around the world this season on the radio and the internet, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners.

The October 16 opening performance of will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79, as will the performances on October 20 and 28, December 8, February 7, and 22.

The October 20 and February 7 performances will also be available via internet streaming at the Met's web site www.metopera.org.

MET DEBUTS AND ROLE DEBUTS

Met Debuts
Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Conductor
Takesha Meshé Kizart, Musetta
Vittorio Grigolo, Rodolfo
Fabio Capitanucci, Marcello
Dimitris Tiliakos, Schaunard
Gunther Groissböck, Colline

Met Role Debuts
Krassimira Stoyanova, Mimì
Ellie Dehn, Musetta
Joseph Calleja, Rodolfo
Edward Parks, Schaunard
Trevor Scheunemann, Schaunard

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