Soprano Lise Davidsen to Makes Highly Anticipated Role Debut In New Production Of Verdi's LA FORZA DEL DESTINO

The Met opens the second half of its 2023–24 season with a new production of Verdi's La Forza del Destino on February 26, starring soprano Lise Davidsen in her role debut as the opera's heroine, Leonora.

One of the most celebrated sopranos of her generation, Davidsen returns this season after a series of Met triumphs, including an acclaimed recital in September, as well as a Met Orchestra concert at Carnegie Hall on February 1.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, leads Davidsen, tenor Brian Jagde as Don Alvaro, baritone Igor Golovatenko as Don Carlo, mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi as Preziosilla, bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi as Fra Melitone, and bass Soloman Howard as both Leonora's father and Padre Guardiano for the first six performances. For the final three performances, soprano Elena Stikhina and mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova take over as Leonora and Preziosilla, with the rest of the cast remaining.

Award-winning director Mariusz Treliński directs the Met's first new production of Forza in nearly 30 years, also his third production for the Met. Treliński's creative team includes set designer Boris Kudlička, costume designer Moritz Junge, lighting designer Marc Heinz, projection designer Bartek Macias, and choreographer Maćko Prusak—in his Met company debut.

The performance of La Forza del Destino on Saturday, March 9, will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the globe as part of the Met's Live in HD series.

The February 26, and March 9 and 29 performances of La Forza del Destino will be broadcast live on the SiriusXM app. The March 9 performance will also be broadcast over The Robert K. Johnson Foundation—Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, and audio from the February 26 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's website.

For More Information

For further details on La Forza del Destino, including casting by date, please click here.

Artist Biographies

Canadian-born conductor and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin became the Met's Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director with the beginning of the 2018–19 season. He made his company debut in 2009 with a new production of Carmen and has since returned every season, conducting nearly 200 performances of 22 operas, as well as numerous galas and concerts with the Met Orchestra. He has been music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012 and held the same position with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra—where he now serves as honorary conductor—between 2008 and 2018. Since 2000, he has served as artistic director and principal conductor of Montreal's Orchestre Métropolitain. From 2008 to 2014, he was principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and during the 2019–20 season, he was a Carnegie Hall Perspectives Artist. He has also led performances at La Scala, Covent Garden, Dutch National Opera, Vienna State Opera, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, and the festivals of Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Grafenegg, Lanaudière, Vail, and Saratoga.

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen returns to the Met stage to sing Leonora in La Forza del Destino. She made her company debut in 2019 as Lisa in The Queen of Spades. Recent Met performances include a solo recital with James Baillieu, the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Chrysothemis in Elektra, and Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Last season, she sang Giorgetta in Il Tabarro at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu and Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo and Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at Covent Garden. Recent career highlights also include Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and in concert at Paris Opera; the title role of Jenůfa at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Ariadne at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Vienna State Opera, and Glyndebourne Festival; and an artistic residency at the Bergen International Festival.

Russian soprano Elena Stikhina makes her Met role debut as Leonora in La Forza del Destino. In 2018, she made her company debut in the title role of Suor Angelica and returned in subsequent seasons to sing the title role of Tosca and Elsa in Lohengrin. Earlier this year, she sang Mimì in a revival of La Bohème. She has also sung at the Bavarian State Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and in concert at the Concertgebouw, Munich Philharmonic, and Philharmonie de Paris. Recent performance highlights include her British debut at the BBC Proms singing Tatiana's letter scene from Eugene Onegin, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly at Dutch National Opera, and Tosca and Leonora at the Paris Opera. She won first prize at the Competizione dell'Opera Linz in 2014 and the Audience and Culturarte Prizes at Operalia in 2016.       

Romanian mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi makes her company debut as Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino. Recent performance highlights include Maddalena in Andrea Chénier at La Scala, Amneris in a new production of Aïda at the Bavarian State Opera, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff at Staatsoper Hamburg, Erda in Das Rheingold at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Amneris at the Arena di Verona, and Azucena in Il Trovatore at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Paris Opera. Other highlights include Federica in Luisa Miller with the Munich Radio Orchestra; Waltraute in Die Walküre and Erda in Siegfried at Musikfest Berlin; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the BBC Proms, together with the World Orchestra for Peace; and Grimgerde in Die Walküre at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Russian mezzo-soprano Maria Barakova makes her Met role debut at Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino, following her performance as Fenena in Nabucco earlier this season. She made her Met debut in 2022 as Sonyetka in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Her recent highlights include Adalgisa in Norma at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Olga in Eugene Onegin at the Vienna State Opera, Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri at the Bregenz Festival, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and the title role of Tancredi at Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival, as well as appearances at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and La Scala. In addition to her success at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition, she was also the first-prize winner of the XXVI Glinka International Vocal Competition in Kazan and received the Discovery of the Year prize at the BraVo Awards in 2022.

New York–born tenor Brian Jagde makes his Met role debut as Don Alvaro in La Forza del Destino. He made his company debut in 2014 as Count Elemer in Arabella. Additional Met highlights include Cavaradossi in Tosca, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Radamès in Aida. Other recent performance highlights include Canio in Pagliacci at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the title role of Don Carlo at Covent Garden, Cavaradossi at the Paris Opera, Radamés in a new production of Aida at the Bavarian State Opera, and Samson in Samson et Dalila at the Teatro di San Carlo and Staatsoper Berlin. He is an Ambassador for Opera for Peace, an international non-profit organization promoting equity and social justice through artistic collaboration, mentorship, and cultural exchanges. He also serves on the vocal faculty of Vincerò Academy. His accolades include top prize at the Loren L. Zachary Competition in 2014, as well as second prize and the Birgit Nilsson Prize from the Operalia Competition in 2012.

Russian baritone Igor Golovatenko makes his Met role debut as Don Carlo di Vargas in La Forza del Destino. He made his company debut as Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades in 2019 and sang the title role of Eugene Onegin during the 2022–23 season. His performance highlights include Germont in La Traviata and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at Covent Garden; Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Count di Luna in Il Trovatore, Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera, Rodrigo in Don Carlo, Andrey Shchelkalov in Boris Godunov, Robert in Iolanta, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, and Marcello in La Bohème at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre; Enrico at Semperoper Dresden; Prince Yeletsky at the Salzburg Festival; Count di Luna at the Bavarian State Opera; and Germont at the Glyndebourne Festival and LA Opera. Notable concert appearances include Rachmaninoff's Spring Cantata with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre and Delius's Mass of Life with the Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra.

New York–born bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi made his Met debut during the 1999–2000 season as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto. He has appeared on the Met stage in numerous roles, including Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Bernardino in Benvenuto Cellini, Haly in L'Italiana in Algeri, Schaunard in La Bohème, Wagner in Faust, Ortel in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Fléville in Andrea Chénier, Brander in La Damnation de Faust, Paolo Albiani in Simon Boccanegra, Frank in Die Fledermaus, Guglielmo in Maria Stuarda, the Sacristan in Tosca, Dr. Dulcamara in L'Elisir d'Amore, Poisson in Adriana Lecouvreur, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte, and Swallow in Peter Grimes.

A native of Washington, D.C., bass Soloman Howard returns to the Met as both the Marquis of Calatrava and Padre Guardino in La Forza del Destino and is also scheduled to perform the role of Timur in Turandot later this spring. His recent performance highlights include Sparafucile in Rigoletto at Staatsoper Hamburg, Fafner in Das Rheingold at the Dallas Opera, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Muhammad Ali in D.J. Sparr's Approaching Ali at Opera Las Vegas, Jacopo Fiesco in a new production of Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the title role of Don Giovanni at the Santa Fe Opera, and Fafner in the Ring cycle and Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr., in the world premiere of the revised edition of Philip Glass's Appomattox at Washington National Opera. The Anti-Defamation League presented him with their Making a Difference Award for his performance in Appomattox, acknowledging his contribution to raising awareness of voting rights and for bringing opera into the larger community.

Film, theater, and opera director Mariusz Treliński returns with a new production of La Forza del Destino, following his Met debut in 2015 directing the double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard's Castle, as well as the new production of Tristan und Isolde in 2016.  He made his opera debut in 1999 with an acclaimed production of Madama Butterfly at the Polish National Opera and has since directed at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, Welsh National Opera, the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Among his movie credits, he has written and directed the Polish films Egoisci, Lagodna, and Pozegnanie Jesieni.

Set designer Boris Kudlička made his Met debut with Iolanta and Bluebeard's Castle in 2015 and also designed the sets for Tristan und Isolde in 2016. His collaboration with Mariusz Treliński began in 1999, and he has since produced more than a dozen opera productions, including Madama Butterfly, Król Roger, Otello, Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, Andrea Chénier, La Bohème, Orfeo ed Euridice, Boris Godunov, Aleko, La Traviata, Turandot, The Flying Dutchman, Salome, Thomas Adès's Powder Her Face, Die Tote Stadt, The Fiery Angel, Halka, and Cardillac. He has created set designs for the world's leading opera houses and festivals, including Covent Garden, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie, Staatsoper Berlin, Welsh National Opera, Semperoper Dresden, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. 

Costume designer Moritz Junge has previously designed costumes for Met productions of Der Fliegende Holländer, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, Roberto Devereux, and Norma. He has also worked with notable theaters and opera houses around the world, including English National Opera, Covent Garden, London's National Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Theater Aachen, Theater Oberhausen, and the Paris Opera Ballet.

Lighting designer Marc Heinz's Met credits include Iolanta and Bluebeard's Castle in 2015 and Tristan und Isolde in 2016. He works frequently with Mariusz Treliński, having previously designed for his productions of Orfeo ed Euridice, Boris Godunov, La Traviata, and Turandot, among many others, at the Polish National Opera. His lighting designs have been seen at other opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Paris Opera, and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.

Video projection designer Bartek Macias is the co-founder of Lunapark, a collective of audiovisual artists. He made his company debut in 2015 as the projection designer for a new production of Iolanta and Bluebeard's Castle. Other Met credits include his work on a new production of Tristan und Isolde during the 2016–17 season. He has designed videos for numerous operas and stage productions, including Nosferatu, Macbeth, The Lion in Winter, and Medea.

Choreographer Maćko Prusak makes his Met debut with La Forza del Destino. He routinely collaborates with the Ludowy Theatre in Kraków, where he stages productions for all audiences. His credits include Krakowskie Abecadło, Salto w Tył, Pippi, and Doktor Dolittle. In 2019, his choreography for Salto w Tył, based on Pavel's sports writing, was awarded the Stanisław Wyspiański Theatre Award. A regular collaborator of Jan Klata, he worked on most of the director's productions. In 2018, he received a choreography award at the 43rd Opole Theatre Confrontations for Jan Klata's Wesele.

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