KS Carlos Álvarez, der nach einer längeren stimmlichen Rekonvaleszenz wieder auf die Opernbühne zurückgekehrt ist, hat die Direktion der Wiener Staatsoper gebeten, ihn von seinen Verpflichtungen als Jago in den 'Otello'-Vorstellungen im Jänner 2012 zu entbinden, da er diese große und schwere Partie erst zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt wieder aufnehmen möchte.
Luca Pisaroni makes his Metropolitan Opera role debut as Leporello in the Met's new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, conducted by Fabio Luisi (October 13-November 11). The Met Opera will beam the production to cinema audiences across the nation and around the globe with its HD broadcast on October 29.
Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met repertory on September 22 with some of opera's most notable young talent, many of them in company debuts or new roles. Danielle de Niese sings Susanna at the Met for the first time, paired with the Figaro of John Relyea, who received the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers earlier this year.
Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met repertory on September 22 with some of opera's most notable young talent, many of them in company debuts or new roles. Danielle de Niese sings Susanna at the Met for the first time, paired with the Figaro of John Relyea, who received the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers earlier this year.
The Metropolitan Opera has reason to celebrate; $2.5 million worth of tickets were sold on Sunday, the first day of sales, through its box office, telephone call center and Web site, up from $2 million on the first day of sales last year, according to the Associated press.
Eight new productions, four of which are company premieres, will highlight the Metropolitan Opera's 2009-10 season. General Manager Peter Gelb and Music Director James Levine jointly announced plans that include: the Met premieres of Rossini's Armida, Verdi's Attila, Jan?ček's From the House of the Dead, and Shostakovich's The Nose; new productions of Bizet's Carmen, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Thomas's Hamlet, and Puccini's Tosca; and 18 revivals from the company's repertory. The season is the first to be entirely planned under Gelb's leadership, in collaboration with Levine (the past three seasons were planned before Gelb became General Manager in 2006-07 but included some productions, repertoire, and casting changes made by Gelb).