Smith Joins 'Tristan and Isolde' Cast

Robert Dean Smith will make his Met debut on Saturday, March 22, singing the role of Tristan in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.  The performance, which begins at 12:30 p.m/ET, will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Ben Heppner, who was originally slated to sing that performance, is still recovering from an illness, and is scheduled to sing on Tuesday, March 25 and Friday, March 28.

Smith has sung Tristan at the Bayreuth Festival, the Vienna State Opera, and Madrid's Teatro Real. A native of Kansas, he has sung a variety of roles from the heldentenor repertory in many of Europe's major opera houses, including La Scala in Milan; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London; the Deutsche Oper Berlin; the Bavarian State Opera in Munich; and many others. In the United States, he has appeared with the San Francisco Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. Smith is scheduled to make sing the Emperor in Die Frau Ohne Schatten in the 2009-10 season.

James Levine conducts and Deborah Voigt sings Isolde at all remaining performances of Tristan und Isolde, as scheduled.