The Met's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO Returns 9/22, Features Notable Young Talent

Mozart's comic masterpiece, Le Nozze di Figaro, returns to the Met repertory on September 22 with some of opera's most notable young talent, many of them in company debuts or new roles. Danielle De Niese sings Susanna at the Met for the first time, paired with the Figaro of John Relyea, who received the Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers earlier this year. British soprano Emma Bell makes her Met debut as Countess Almaviva, and native New Yorker Isabel Leonard sings Cherubino for the first time at the Met. Danish baritone Bo Skovhus is Count Almaviva, and Israeli maestro Dan Ettinger makes his Met debut on the podium. In the November and December performances, German soprano Annette Dasch makes her Met debut as the Countess, Lisette Oropesa sings Susanna and Luca Pisaroni is Figaro. Ludovic Tézier makes his role debut as the Count, and Fabio Luisi conducts his first Figaro at the Met. The production from 1998 is by Jonathan Miller with sets by Peter J. Davison, costumes by James Acheson, lighting by Mark McCullough, and choreography by Terry John Bates. Performances run through December 12.

About the performers

Emma Bell, who makes her Met debut as Countess Almaviva, has already made her mark in 18th-century opera-Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and the title roles in Rodelinda and Alcina-but her career is not limited to the works of Mozart and Handel. She also performs such roles as Micaëla in Carmen, Violetta in La Traviata, Leonore in Carl Nielsen's Maskarade, and the Governess in Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw. Future plans include the Fox in Janá?ek's The Cunning Little Vixen and Eva in Die Meistersinger, both at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, as well as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at La Scala.
The Countess also serves as the Met debut role for the young German soprano Annette Dasch. Though Mozart is currently her specialty-Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte, Elettra in Idomeneo, and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte-she also sings a variety of roles. Two years ago she performed the title role of Haydn's Armida at the Salzburg Festival, and this fall she makes her American debut as Desdemona in a new production of Verdi's Otello that opens the Dallas Opera season.
Australian-born American soprano Danielle De Niese performs Susanna for the first time at the Met. She is an acclaimed interpreter of the baroque repertoire- particularly Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, and the title roles in Semele, Rodelinda, and L'Incoronazione di Poppea- and last season at the Met was Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice, which was transmitted globally as part of The Met: Live in HD series. A graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, she made her company debut as Barbarina at the 1998 premiere of this production of Le Nozze di Figaro and has also sung Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Poussette in Manon, a Flower Maiden in Parsifal, and the Child in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. In addition, she has performed in Weill Hall with Met Music Director James Levine and the MET Chamber Ensemble.

Lisette Oropesa, another graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, reprises the role of Susanna, which she sang at the Met in 2007. Last season she was Lisette in the new production of La Rondine, which was transmitted worldwide as part of the The Met: Live in HD series. She also appeared as Woglinde and the Forest Bird in the final staging of Otto Schenk's Der Ring des Nibelungen and sang Brahms's Liebeslieder Waltzes in Weill Hall with James Levine and the MET Chamber Ensemble. A native of New Orleans, Oropesa was a 2005 finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Her roles at the Met also include the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel and a Lay Sister in Suor Angelica, both new productions that were transmitted as part of The Met: Live in HD series.

Isabel Leonard adds Cherubino to her Met repertoire following her appearances last season as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. The Juilliard graduate made her debut in 2007 as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, which was seen by audiences throughout the world live in HD. The young mezzo, a New York City native, recently performed Cherubino with both the Santa Fe Opera and the Bavarian State Opera; sang Dorabella in a new production of Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival; appeared as Zerlina with Chicago Opera Theatre; and played the title roles of La Cenerentola at the Fort Worth Opera and of La Périchole at the Bordeaux Opera.

Canadian bass-baritone John Relyea, the 2009 winner of the Met's Beverly Sills Artist Award, reprises the title role, which he sang to acclaim in 2006. Since his 2000 Met debut as Alidoro in La Cenerentola, he has proven his versatility as a singer who moves easily between Mozart, the bel canto repertoire, and Wagner. Last season he reprised the role of Alidoro in La Cenerentola and sang Méphistophélès in Robert Lepage's new production of La Damnation de Faust, both of which were transmitted as part of The Met: Live in HD series. He has also been seen in four other Live in HD transmissions: as Giorgio in I Puritani, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Basilio in IL Barbiere di Siviglia, and Banquo in Macbeth, the last three in new productions. Relyea's roles also include Garibaldo in the Met premiere of Handel's Rodelinda, Masetto in Don Giovanni, and Night Watchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Luca Pisaroni returns as Figaro, which he sang at the Met in 2005, the year of his debut in another Mozart role, Publio in La Clemenza di Tito. The young bass-baritone, who was born in Parma, Italy, made his professional debut as Figaro in 2001 in Klagenfurt, Austria. His Mozart repertoire extends to Papageno in Die Zauberflöte (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées), Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (Netherlands Opera), and Leporello in Don Giovanni (Teatro Real, Madrid). Among his other roles are two by Handel, Achilla in Giulio Cesare (Opera Colorado) and Melisso in Alcina (Paris Opera).

Danish baritone Bo Skovhus reprises the role of Count Almaviva, which he last sang at the Met in 1999. He made his company debut the previous year as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and, in addition, has performed Count Danilovich in The Merry Widow. His appearances in the world's major opera houses include the Count at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and at the Vienna State Opera, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte (Vienna State Opera), Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde (Glyndebourne Festival), and the title role in Billy Budd (Vienna State Opera).

French baritone Ludovic Tézier makes his Met role debut as the Count. He first appeared with the company in 2002 as Escamillo in Carmen and has also sung Marcello in La Bohème. He won second place in Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition in 1998 and has appeared with such companies as the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the Lyon Opera, and Paris Opera. His repertoire includes Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, the title role in the baritone version of Massenet's Werther, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades, and Jochanaan in Salome.

Israeli maestro Dan Ettinger makes his Met debut. An operatic baritone who made a career switch to conducting, he first took the podium in 1999 with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Currently Kapellmeister at the Berlin State Opera and music director and principal conductor of the Israel Symphony Orchestra, he also becomes the music director and principal conductor of Mannheim's National Theater this fall. In a repertoire that ranges from Pergolesi and Mozart to Wagner and Strauss, he has conducted such companies as the Berlin State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, Munich's Bavarian State Opera, Washington National Opera, and Los Angeles Opera. This season he conducts Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at Tokyo's New National Theatre.

Maestro Fabio Luisi, who is leading performances of Le Nozze di Figaro for the first time at the Met, is also adding Richard Strauss's Elektra to his company repertoire later this season. He made his Met debut with Don Carlo in 2005, conducted the new production of Strauss's Die Ägyptische Helena in 2007, and has also led performances of Simon Boccanegra and Turandot. A native of Genoa, he was originally a pianist but turned to conducting while he was working as an accompanist for the great Turkish soprano Leyla Gencer. He is chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony, general music director of the Dresden State Opera, chief conductor of Dresden's Staatskapelle, and chief conductor and music director of the MDR Symphony Orchestra in Leipzig.

Live broadcasts to be heard around the world

Le Nozze di Figaro will be heard by people around the world this season on the radio and the web, through distribution platforms the Met has established with various media partners.

The season premiere on September 22 as well as performances on October 5, November 27, and 30 will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS channel 78 and XM channel 79. The performances on October 5 and November 27 will also be available via RealNetworks internet streaming at the Met's web site, www.metopera.org.