Tenor Javier Camarena to Make Met Role Debut as the Duke of Mantua in Tonight's RIGOLETTO Performance

Tenor Javier Camarena will be making his Met role debut as the Duke of Mantua in tonight's final performance of Verdi's Rigoletto, replacing Stephen Costello, who has withdrawn due to illness. In addition, bass Julian Close will replace John Relyea in the role of Sparafucile.

Camarena will also be making his Met role debut as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore this January. Since his 2011 company debut singing Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, he has sung Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Tonio in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment, Nadir in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Idreno in Rossini's Semiramide, Arturo in Bellini's I Puritani, Ernesto in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Don Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Elvino in Bellini's La Sonnambula. He has appeared at many of the world's leading opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, LA Opera, and in Zurich, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Santiago, Florence, Mexico City, and Bilbao.