Michael Mayer’s acclaimed staging of Verdi’s La Traviata returns in January with two casts of bright stars

Michael Mayer’s acclaimed staging of Verdi’s La Traviata returns in January with two casts of bright stars

• Aleksandra Kurzak and Lisette Oropesa share the role of Violetta, opposite Dmytro Popov and Piero Pretti as Alfredo
• New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns joins cast in a featured solo
• Karel Mark Chichon and Bertrand de Billy conduct one of opera’s greatest scores

New York, NY (January 9, 2020)— Beginning January 10, the first of two casts stars in the Met’s production of Verdi’s La Traviata, directed by Michael Mayer and conducted by Karel Mark Chichon. Aleksandra Kurzak makes her Met role debut as the tragic heroine Violetta, opposite Dmytro Popov as her lover Alfredo and Quinn Kelsey reprising his acclaimed portrayal as Alfredo’s disapproving father Germont. Later in the season, Lisette Oropesa, Piero Pretti, and Luca Salsi step into the roles, with Bertrand de Billy in the pit. New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns makes her Met debut as a featured dancer.

La Traviata Worldwide Broadcasts on Radio and Online

The January 10, January 18, and March 5 performances of La Traviata will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SiriusXM Channel 75. The January 18 performance will be broadcast over the Toll Brothers–Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network, and the January 10 performance will also be streamed live on the Met’s web site, metopera.org.

La Traviata Artist Biographies

Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak adds a new role to her Met repertory as Violetta, a role that she has previously sung at Paris Opera. She made her Met debut in 2004 as Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and has also sung Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Blondchen in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with the company. Other roles this season include Violetta and Nedda at Covent Garden, Elisabeth of Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo in Paris, and Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff at the Bavarian State Opera.

American soprano Lisette Oropesa makes her Met role debut as Violetta, a role that she’s previously sung at Greek National Opera, the Arena di Verona, and Opera Philadelphia. In 2019, she was awarded both the Richard Tucker Award and the Met’s Beverly Sills Artist Award. A graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, she has sung more than 120 performances of 15 roles with the company, including Gretel and the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Sophie in Massenet’s Werther, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Miranda in the world premiere of the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, Woglinde in Wagner’s Ring cycle, Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Earlier this season, she sang the title role of Massenet’s Manon, which was seen in cinemas around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series.

Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov makes his house role debut as Alfredo, a role that he’s previously sung at the Vienna State Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, and Semperoper Dresden. He made his company debut in 2016 as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème and reprised the portrayal the following year. Other recent performances include Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Paris Opera, Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca in Dresden, Don José in Bizet’s Carmen in Zurich, and the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka in Vienna. This season, he also sings Don José at Dutch National Opera and again in Zurich and is also the tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at the Hamburg State Opera.

Italian tenor Piero Pretti made his Met debut earlier this season as Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, a role that he has sung at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Opernhaus Zürich, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Paris Opera. Recent roles include Ismaele in Verdi’s Nabucco and the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Bavarian State Opera, the title role of Massenet’s Werther at La Fenice in Venice, Gualtiero in Bellini’s Il Pirata at La Scala, Riccardo in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera at the Paris Opera, and Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème at Teatro Real in Madrid. This season, he also sings the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlo in Venice, Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor at the Bavarian State Opera, and Rodolfo in Verdi’s Luisa Miller at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.

American baritone Quinn Kelsey returns to the Met this season as Giorgio Germont, which he sang last season with the company in the premiere of Michael Mayer’s production. The winner of the 2015 Beverly Sills Artist Award, his other company credits include Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida, Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, which he also sang at the Met’s recent New Year’s Eve Gala. His recent Verdi roles include Miller in Luisa Miller at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ford in Falstaff at Dallas Opera, and the title role of Rigoletto at Opernhaus Zürich. Later this season, he sings Guido di Monforte in Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani in Zurich.

Italian baritone Luca Salsi adds a new role to his Met repertory as Giorgio Germont, a role that he has sung at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera. He made his Met debut in 2007 at Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, followed by appearances as Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Rodrigo in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and Miller in Verdi’s Luisa Miller. Other recent roles include Rodrigo at Teatro Real in Madrid, the title role of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at the Salzburg Festival, and Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca in Paris. This season, he also sings Renato in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera and Scarpia at La Scala, Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida at Opernhaus Zürich, and the title role of Verdi’s Rigoletto at La Fenice in Venice.

American dancer Sara Mearns is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet and winner of the 2018 Bessie Award and the 2019 Dance Magazine Award. She is known for her roles as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake and in Balanchine ballets, including Jewels (“Diamonds”) and Symphony in C, among others. She has originated roles in ballets by choreographers including Justin Peck, Kyle Abraham, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon and has appeared as a guest artist with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in Dances of Isadora (Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation), the Martha Graham Company (2019 Gala), the Ashley Bouder Project (Duet by Liz Gerring), and Company Wang Ramirez (No. 1). She appeared in New Bodies, a collaboration with Jodi Melnick, at Spoleto Festival USA in South Carolina, and at the Guggenheim Museum. At New York City Center, she has appeared in the Fall for Dance Festival (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2019) and the 2018 Balanchine Festival. She was a guest artist alternating the role of Victoria Page in the U.S. premiere of Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes. She made her theatrical debut in Rodgers and Hart’s I Married an Angel, directed and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, at New York City Center Encores! in March 2019. In summer 2019, she danced at Jacob’s Pillow in a weeklong tribute to her called Beyond Ballet. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of South Carolina in 2019.

English conductor Karel Mark Chichon made his Met debut in 2016 conducting Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. In May 2017, he was appointed chief conductor and artistic director of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and was previously the chief conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie from 2011 to 2017. He has previously conducted at opera companies  around the world, including the Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

French conductor Bertrand de Billy made his Met debut in 1998 leading Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. His other performances with the company include Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s Luisa Miller, Puccini’s Il Trittico, Massenet’s Cendrillon, Bizet’s Carmen, and Puccini’s Turandot. He was previously the music director at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and the music director of the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Vienna. He is currently the principal guest conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic. Other recent credits include leading Il Trittico at the Bavarian State Opera, Verdi’s Otello at the Paris Opera, and Saint-Saën’s Samson et Dalila at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. Also this season at the Met, he leads Tosca.

For More Information

For further details on La Traviata, including casting by date, please click here.

La Traviata

Music by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Friday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 18 at 1:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, January 26 at 3:00 p.m.

Friday, January 31 at 8:00 p.m.

Monday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, February 29 at 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Monday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Production a gift of The Paiko Foundation

Major additional funding from Mercedes T. Bass, Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone, and Rolex

For prices and ticket information, please call 212. 362.6000 or visit metopera.org. Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 212.341.5410 or visiting metopera.org/groups.