Metropolitan Opera 2015-16 Season Announcement: 'Otello' to Open Season, Which Includes Numerous Latino Stars
The Metropolitan Opera has announced its 2015-16 season with six new productions and 227 performances in total.
The season will include some of opera's biggest stars and many Latino stars. The legendary Placido Domingo returns to the Met in two operas. He will return to his acclaimed portrayal of Simon Boccanegra in Verdi's opera in April and will be joined by Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto and Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja.
Domingo will also be part of the Puccini's "Tosca" revival in November. Domingo, who once sang the role of Cavaradossi, will switch gears and preside over the podium. He conduct two of the world's leading Toscas, Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu and Russian soprano Maria Guleghina.
Marcelo Alvarez will make his Met role debut as Calaf in Puccini's masterpiece "Turandot." The Argentine tenor will be joined by American soprano Christine Goerke, Russian Soprano Hibla Gerzmava and legendary bass James Morris.
Spanish Conductor Pablo Heras-Casado will also return to the Met to conduct Verdi's tragic opera "Rigoletto. The conductor will lead an extraordinary cast of singers, which include Russian Soprano Olga Peretyatko, tenors Piotr Beczala and Stephen Costello and baritone Simon Keenlyside.
Later in the run of "Rigoletto" American Soprano Nadine Sierra, who is of Puerto Rican descent, will make her Met debut as Gilda. The soprano is a winner of the National Council Auditions and she will be joined by Venezuelan Mezzo soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera in the role of Maddalena. Beczala and Zeljko Lucic will also join the two Latin American stars.
Argentine-American mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will return to the Met in her acclaimed turn as Cherubino in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" alongside Venezuelan born bass Luca Pisaroni, Anita Hartig, and Mikhail Petrenko.
Leonard will also sing the role of Rosina in the holiday presentation of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." The cast will also include the debuts of two Latin American singers. Colombian baritone Valeriano Lanchas will sing the role of Bartolo, while Mexican-American tenor David Portillo will sing the role of Count Almaviva.
Mexican Tenor Ramon Vargas will also return to his acclaimed interpretation of Rodolfo in Puccini's beloved opera "La Boheme." The tenor will be joined by Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez, who has not been at the Met since 2005.
Mexican tenor Javier Camarena returns to the Met after causing a sensation in 2014. He will sing the role of Ernesto in Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" alongside Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto and Ambrogio Maestri.
Spanish Conductor Enrique Mazzola will lead the Met Orchestra in his debut in Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore." He will lead superstar tenor Vittorio Grigolo, as well as Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak in one of Bel-Canto's comic gems.
Finally, Spanish tenor Celso Albelo will make his Met debut as Leicester in Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda."
Aside from the array of Latin Americans singing at the Met next year there are also a number of highlights. American Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky will take the challenge of singing Donizetti's Tudor trilogy in "Anna Bolena," "Maria Stuarda," and Roberto Devereux." Aleksandrs Antonenko will open the Met season in a new production of Verdi's "Otello" alongside rising star Sonya Yoncheva.
Meanwhile, Diana Damrau will headline Bizet's "Les Pêcheurs de Perles," which has not been performed since 1916.
Jonas Kaufmann and Kristine Opolais will once again team up for Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" in a new production by acclaimed film and theater director Richard Eyre.
Swedish Soprano Nina Stemme will also return to the Met in her first performances since 2010 in the roles of "Turandot" and Strauss' doomed "Elektra."
Finally, Anna Netrebko will make her Met role debut as Leonora in Verdi's melodic masterpiece "Il Trovatore." The Russian soprano will also make her New York Recital debut in an all-Russian program.
The Met will also continue its "Live in HD" series and will also offer open rehearsals and as well as summer events.