Sondra Radvanovsky to Play Title Role in Met Opera's ANNA BOLENA

This Saturday, September 26, American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky will begin her season-long quest to sing all three of the principal heroines in Donizetti's "Tudor trilogy," being presented in its entirety for the first time at the Met this season. In the first opera, Anna Bolena, Radvanovsky stars as the young queen Anne Boleyn, grasping to hold onto the throne of England. Later this season, Radvanovsky will also star as the devout and doomed Mary, Queen of Scots in Maria Stuarda and as the conflicted Elizabeth I in the first-ever Met performances of Roberto Devereux. Radvanovsky will be the first soprano since Beverly Sills in the 1970s to sing the lead roles in all three operas in the course of a single New York season.

Anna Bolena also stars rising American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton as Giovanna, Anna Bolena's lady-in-waiting turned rival, along with Tamara Mumford as Smeton, Stephen Costello as Anna's first love Lord Riccardo Percy, and Ildar Abdrazakov as King Enrico VIII. In later performances, American tenor Taylor Stayton sings the role of Lord Riccardo Percy. Marco Armiliato conducts all performances of Anna Bolena at the Met this season.

Sondra Radvanovsky makes her Met role debut as Anna Bolena, a role she sang previously at the Washington National Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Following her company debut in 1996 as the Countess Ceprano in Verdi's Rigoletto, she has sung 174 performances at the Met. Recent roles with the company include Amelia in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, the title characters in Bellini's Norma and Verdi's Aida, and Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore. This season, along with starring in Maria Stuarda and the Met premiere of Roberto Devereux, she will also sing in the title roles of Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and in the title role of Aida at the Paris Opera.

Jamie Barton previously sang the role of Giovanna Seymour earlier this year at Lyric Opera of Chicago, opposite Sondra Radvanovsky as Anna Bolena. She first came to prominence as a winner of the Met's National Council Auditions in 2007, a process that was documented in the award-winning film The Audition. She made her Met debut in 2009 as the Second Lady in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and returned in 2013 to make a company role debut as Adalgisa in Bellini's Norma, a role she has since sung with San Francisco Opera. She can be seen later this season in her role debuts as Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare at Oper Frankfurt, Elizabeth Proctor in Ward's The Crucible at Glimmerglass Operadebuting, and as Fenena in Verdi's Nabucco at the Seattle Opera, as well as the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Tamara Mumford previously sang Smeton at the Met premiere of Anna Bolena in 2011. She is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and has sung roles such as Margaret in Berg's Wozzeck, Hippolyta in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pauline in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, and Dryade in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met. Her most recent credits with other companies include Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter in Charlie Parker's Yardbird at the Philadelphia Opera and Marta in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta at the Dallas Opera.

Stephen Costello sang the role of Lord Percy at the Met premiere of Anna Bolena in 2011 and at the Dallas Opera in 2010. He made his Met debut in 2007 as Arturo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, followed by roles as Alfred Germont in La Traviata and Camille de Rosillon in Lehár's The Merry Widow. He can be seen later this season as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at the Met, as well as reprising his role as the Duke at Madrid's Teatro Real, des Grieux in Massenet's Manon at the Dallas Opera, Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Santa Fe Opera, Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore at the Vienna State Opera, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Taylor Stayton made his Met debut as Lord Percy in Anna Bolena in 2011. He also previously sang the role of Elvino in Bellini's La Sonnambula with the company. Later this season, he can be seen in the Met's holiday presentation for families as Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Tonio in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment with the Palm Beach Opera, and Lindoro in Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

Ildar Abdrazakov previously sang Enrico VIII in the 2011 Met premiere of Anna Bolena. He made his company debut in 2004 as Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni. His other credits with the Met include Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, the title characters in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Borodin's Prince Igor, and Dosifei in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina. Next year, he will star as Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Paris Opera and the title role in Verdi's Attila at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo.

Marco Armiliato has conducted over 350 performances with the Met since 1998 and led the Met premiere of Anna Bolena in 2011. In recent seasons, he has led performances at the Vienna State Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Zurich Opera, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. The Italian conductor can also be seen leading Il Trovatore this season at the Met.

David McVicar directed the 2011 Met premiere of Anna Bolena and helmed the company premiere of Maria Stuarda in 2012. To complete the "Tudor trilogy," McVicar will direct and design the Met premiere of Roberto Devereux later this season. Other credits with the company include his Met debut with Il Trovatore in 2009 and the double bill of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci that premiered earlier this year.

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