American soprano Amanda Majeski will sing Countess Almaviva in all performances of the season-opening new production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by James Levine and directed by Richard Eyre. Majeski, originally scheduled to sing the Countess in later performances, will now make her Met debut on opening night, replacing Marina Poplavskaya, who has withdrawn for health reasons.
Majeski has sung the Countess with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Dresden Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival. Her other recent performances include Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia, Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust at Zurich Opera, and the title role in Dvořák’s Rusalka at Frankfurt Opera. Later this season, she sings Marta in Weinberg’s The Passenger at Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Marschallin in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier at Opera Frankfurt.
Le Nozze di Figaro opens the Met’s 2014-15 season on September 22. James Levine conducts the first 10 performances, which also star Marlis Petersen as Susanna, Isabel Leonard as Cherubino, Peter Mattei as Count Almaviva, and Ildar Abdrazakov as Figaro, on September 22, 25, 27, October 2, 7, 10, 14, 18 matinee, 22, and 25. Edo de Waart conducts five additional performances of the opera on December 4, 8, 12, 15, and 20 matinee, which also star Danielle de Niese as Susanna, Serena Malfi in her Met debut as Cherubino, Mariusz Kwiecien as Count Almaviva, and Erwin Schrott as Figaro.
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