Joyce DiDonato Stars in Her First Met Performances of
Rossini’s Cinderella Story, La Cenerentola
Two of the world’s leading bel canto tenors, Javier Camarena and
Juan Diego Flórez, share the role of the dashing Don Ramiro
Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads the performances, which include a worldwide Live in HD transmission on Saturday, May 10
New York, NY (April 9, 2014) – Mezzo-soprano star Joyce DiDonato will sing her first Met performances of one of her signature roles, the winsome heroine of Rossini’s adaptation of the Cinderella story, La Cenerentola, beginning April 21. The role of Don Ramiro will be shared by two leading bel canto tenors—rising star Javier Camarena, who made an acclaimed Met role debut last month as Elvino in Bellini’s La Sonnambula, and Juan Diego Flórez, one of the world’s foremost Rossini interpreters. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi returns to the podium to lead his first bel canto opera with the company. The cast also includes Alessandro Corbelli as Don Magnifico, the wicked stepfather; Luca Pisaroni as the wise Alidoro; and Italian baritone Pietro Spagnoli in his Met debut as Don Ramiro’s valet, Dandini. The May 10 matinee of La Cenerentola, in which Flórez stars opposite DiDonato, will be transmitted live as part of the Met’s Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 66 countries around the world.
Joyce DiDonato has sung Angelina, the title role in La Cenerentola, at major opera houses all over the world, including La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Angelina is her eighth role at the Met, where her repertory has included the title role in the company premiere of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda; Sycorax in the world premiere of the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island; Isolier in the company premiere of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory and Rosina in his Il Barbiere di Siviglia; the Composer in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos; Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette; and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Next season at the Met, she will sing the title role in another Met premiere, Rossini’s La Donna del Lago.
Javier Camarena made his Met debut in 2011 as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and returned last month to sing his first company performances of Elvino in an acclaimed revival of La Sonnambula. He has sung Don Ramiro at La Monnaie in Brussels and Paris Opera and will sing it in the coming season at the Salzburg Festival and Bavarian State Opera. Camarena agreed to sing Don Ramiro at the Met this season on short notice when illness forced Juan Diego Flórez to withdraw from the opening performances of the revival.
Juan Diego Flórez is one of the world’s foremost Rossini tenors, currently counting 17 of the composer’s tenor roles in his repertory. He made his Met debut in 2002 as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the same year he sang his first company performances of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola. In later seasons, he sang Lindoro in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri and Count Ory in the company premiere of Le Comte Ory. He sang Elvino in the new production of La Sonnambula and has also sung three Donizetti heroes at the Met: Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, and Tonio in the new production of La Fille du Régiment. Next season, he will star opposite DiDonato in the Met premiere of La Donna del Lago.
Fabio Luisi, who was named the Met’s Principal Conductor in 2011, has led 22 operas with the company, including six new production premieres: Strauss’s Die Ägyptische Helena, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Wagner’s Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, Massenet’s Manon, and Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera. Last season, he led three complete cycles of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. His diverse repertory of Met performances also includes Verdi’s Aida, Don Carlo, La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Simon Boccanegra; Puccini’s La Bohème, Turandot, and Tosca; Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Elektra; Berg’s Lulu; Berlioz’s Les Troyens; Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel; and Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Next season, he will conduct new productions of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Lehár’s The Merry Widow as well as his first Met performances of Verdi’s Macbeth.
Pietro Spagnoli’s other engagements this season include Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro in Lyon, Paris, and Barcelona; Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at Vienna State Opera; and Sulpice in La Fille du Régiment at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Alessandro Corbelli made his Met debut as Dandini in the 1997 company premiere of La Cenerentola and first sang Don Magnifico at the Met in 2009. His other Met roles have included Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore, Sulpice in La Fille du Régiment, and the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Luca Pisaroni made his Met debut in 2005 as Publio in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. His other roles with the company have included Caliban in the world premiere of The Enchanted Island (reprised earlier this season), the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Leporello in the new production premiere of Don Giovanni.
La Cenerentola Live in HD and Radio Broadcasts
La Cenerentola will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world on Saturday, May 10 at 12:55 p.m. as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. Soprano Deborah Voigt hosts the transmission. Since the Live in HD series launched in 2006, more than 15 million tickets have been sold to opera lovers worldwide. The Met: Live in HD is now seen in more than 2,000 theaters in 66 countries around the world.
The April 21 opening performance of La Cenerentola will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on April 28, May 6, and May 10.
The April 21 and May 6 performances will also be streamed live on the Met’s website, www.metopera.org.
The May 10 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.
For More Information
For more information on this season’s performances of La Cenerentola, please visit the Met’s website at http://www.metopera.org.
MET DEBUTS & MET ROLE DEBUTS
Met Debuts
Pietro Spagnoli, Dandini (April 21)
Met Role Debuts
Fabio Luisi, Conductor
Joyce DiDonato, Angelina
Javier Camarena, Don Ramiro
Luca Pisaroni, Alidoro
