Sondra Radvanovsky and Joseph Calleja Will Star in Puccini’s Tosca, Opening October 25

Sondra Radvanovsky and Joseph Calleja

Will Star in Puccini’s Tosca, Opening October 25

In later performances in the spring,

Jennifer Rowley will sing the title role

New York, NY (October 25, 2018) —Sondra Radvanovsky returns to the Metropolitan Opera as the diva heroine of Puccini’s Tosca for seven performances October 25–November 17. Joseph Calleja, with whom Radvanovsky opened the Met’s last season in Bellini’s Norma, sings the role of her lover, the painter Cavaradossi.  For the premiere performance, Željko Lučić will sing the role of police chief Scarpia, the character he portrayed when Sir David McVicar’s production premiered on New Years’ Eve. Making his Met debut, Claudio Sgura will sing Scarpia for the remaining six performances of the fall run through November 17. When Puccini’s celebrated tragedy returns to the repertory from March 18–April 6, Jennifer Rowley will sing the title role, opposite Calleja, with Wolfgang Koch making his Met debut as Scarpia. Carlo Rizzi conducts all performances.

Sondra Radvanovsky made her company role debut as Tosca in 2011 and reprised the role at the Met in 2013. The American soprano has also sung it at Deutsche Oper Berlin, LA Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera. After winning the National Council Auditions in 1995, she made her Met debut the following year as Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto and has sung 206 performances with the company to date. Recent roles at the Met, in addition to Norma, include singing all three queens in Donizetti’s Tudor trilogy during the 2015–16 season, making her the first singer since Beverly Sills in the 1970s to perform all three roles in a single New York season; Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera; Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore; and the title character in Verdi’s Aida (a role she will reprise at the Met in January). This season she will also reprise the title role of Tosca at the Vienna State Opera and sing Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux at the Bavarian State Opera, Maddalena in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the title role of Verdi’s Luisa Miller at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Jennifer Rowley sang the role of Tosca at the Met last season. She made her company debut as Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème in 2014, and since then has sung roles such as Roxane in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac and Leonora in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Other recent performances with other companies include the title role in Tosca at Nashville Opera and Musetta in La Bohème at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Later this season at the Met, the American soprano will sing the title role in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur.

Joseph Calleja makes his Met role debut as Cavaradossi, a role he has previously sung at the Bavarian State Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The Maltese tenor made his company debut as the Duke in Rigoletto in 2006,followed by singing Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, the title role in Faust, Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, and Pollione in the Met’s new production of Bellini’s Norma. Later this season, he sings the role of Pollione in Norma at the Bavarian State Opera, Don José in Bizet’s Carmen, Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Vienna State Opera.

Serbian baritone Željko Lučić is currently singing Jack Rance in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West at the Met, which will be seen as a part of The Met: Live in HD on October 27. He made his Met debut in 2006 as Barnaba in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda and has sung 14 roles with the company, including the title role in Verdi’s Nabucco, Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida, Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and Iago in a new production of Verdi’s Otello, (a role he will reprise in December) which opened the 2015–16 season. His performances in Tosca, Otello, and in the title roles of Rigoletto and Macbeth have all been seen throughout the world as part of The Met: Live in HD.

Italian baritone Claudio Sgura has previously sung the role of Scarpia at Wiener Staatsoper. He has been seen in recent performances as Jack Rance in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West at Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Barnaba in Ponchielli’s La Gioconda at Paris Opera, and Iago in Verdi’s Otello at Bayerische Staatsoper. This season he will sing Carlo Gérard in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier at Teatro Comunale di Modena, Fondazione Teatri di Piacenza, I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, and Teatro Regio di Parma; Jack Rance in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West at Staatsoper Hamburg; and Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Tonio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci at Teatro di San Carlo.

Wolfgang Kochhas sung extensively in his native Germany in a variety of Wagner roles, including Wotan/Wanderer in Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Siegfried; Klingsor in Parsifal; the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer; and Wolfram in Tannhäuser. Upcoming performances include Barak in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Vienna State Opera and Hamburg State Opera, Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Bavarian State Opera, and Jochanaan in Strauss’s Salome and Hans Sachs in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Munich Opera Festival.

Carlo Rizzi made his Met debut conducting La Bohème in 1993. Since then, he has conducted 198 performances with the company, including Bellini’s Norma, Verdi’s La Traviata and Aida, and Puccini’s Turandot and Tosca. The Italian conductor was music director of the Welsh National Opera from 1992 to 2001 and 2004 to 2008, and has conducted at opera houses including La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Paris Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Later this season, he will conduct Boito’s Mefistofele at the Met.

Tosca Radio Broadcasts

The October 25, November 2, and April 6 performances of Tosca will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 75, and the October 25 performance will also be streamed live on the Met’s web site, www.metopera.org. 

For more information on Tosca, including casting by date, please click here.

Tosca

Composer:                   Giacomo Puccini

Libretto:                       Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica

Performances:

Thursday October 25 at 7.30pm

Monday October 29 at 7.30pm

Friday November 2 at 8.00pm

Monday November 5 at 8.00pm

Friday November 9 at 8.00pm

Tuesday November 13 at 7.30pm

Saturday November 17 at 1.00pm

Monday March 18 at 8.00 pm

Saturday March 23 at 8.00pm

Tuesday March 26 at 7.30pm

Friday March 29 at 8.00pm

Tuesday April 2 at 7.30pm

Saturday April 6 at 1.00pm

*Met debut

Production a gift of Jacqueline Desmarais, in memory of Paul G. Desmarais Sr; The Paiko Foundation; and Dr. Elena Prokupets, in memory of her late husband, Rudy Prokupets

Major funding from Rolex

Revival a gift of NPD Group, Inc.

For prices and ticket information, please call (212) 362-6000 or visit www.metopera.org.

Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling (212) 341-5410 or visiting www.metopera.org/groups.