Alan Gilbert Conducts DON GIOVANNI Led By Baritone Peter Mattei, Tonight!

Alan Gilbert, music director of the New York Philharmonic, conducts Mozart's Don Giovanni with an internationally renowned cast led by Swedish baritone Peter Mattei, who is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost interpreters of the title role. South African soprano Elza van den Heever returns to the Met for the first time since her acclaimed debut two seasons ago as Queen Elizabeth I in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. In Don Giovanni, she takes on the demanding role of Donna Anna, who seeks to exact revenge on the infamous rake who has killed her father. British sopranoEmma Bell returns as the lovelorn Donna Elvira and young American mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey adds a new role to her Met repertory as the ingénue Zerlina. Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak makes his Met debut as Anna's patient fiancé, Don Ottavio, and Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni returns as Don Giovanni's comic sidekick, Leporello, a role that won him plaudits at the 2011 premiere of this production by Michael Grandage. Czech bass-baritone Adam Plachetka makes his Met debut as Masetto, and veteran James Morris sings the role of the Commendatore, following his triumph as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg earlier this season. Sets and costume designs are by Christopher Oram, lighting by Paule Constable, and choreography by Ben Wright. At the final performance on March 6, Jennifer Check will sing Donna Elvira, and Ievgen Orlov will sing the Commendatore.

Alan Gilbert made his Met debut conducting the company premiere of John Adams's Doctor Atomic in 2008. The first native New Yorker to hold the post of music director of the New York Philharmonic, Gilbert has been a force for innovation in the orchestra's programming with opera and musical theatre figuring prominently in his plans. He has led the Philharmonic in performances of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, Janá?ek's The Cunning Little Vixen, and Sondheim's Sweeney Todd in recent years. He also conducted Mozart's Così Fan Tutte with members of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the Juilliard Orchestra at the Juilliard School in 2012. Gilbert has also conducted at the Los Angeles Opera, Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera where he was music director from 2002-2007.

Renowned as one of the finest singing actors on the operatic stage today, Peter Mattei has made a specialty of the role of Don Giovanni, which he as sung at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival, among others. He first sang the part at the Met in 2003, returning for performances in 2009 and again for the premiere of the present production in 2011. Other particularly notable roles Mattei has sung at the Met include Figaro in the new production premiere of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Shiskov in the Met premiere of Janá?ek's From the House of the Dead, Amfortas in the new production premiere of Parsifal, and Count Almaviva in this season's opening night new production premiere of Le Nozze di Figaro.

Elza van den Heever made her Met debut as Elizabeth I in the company premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda on December 31, 2012. The role of Donna Anna has figured prominently in the soprano's career, including performances with the San Francisco Opera, the Santa Fe Opera and the Hamburg Opera. Elsewhere this season she undertakes the roles of Elsa inLohengrin, Desdemona in Otello, and the title role of Norma. She made her Carnegie Hall Recital debut this past October.

Emma Bell made her Met debut in 2009 as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro and returned to sing Donna Elvira for the first time with the company in 2012. The English soprano has sung Donna Elvira at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, and La Scala. She sings frequently at Covent Garden, where her engagements have included the soprano soloist in Britten's War Requiem, Fox in Janá?ek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the title role in the U.K. premiere of Judith Weir's Miss Fortune.

Following her Met debut as Javotte in Massenet's Manon in 2005, Kate Lindsey has sung a number of leading parts with the company, many of them "pants roles" including Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Annio in La Clemenza di Tito, Siébel inFaust, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, and Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, the latter her most frequent role to date.

Debuting tenor Dmitry Korchak has sung the role of Don Ottavio in Toulouse and Valencia before coming to the Met. Other engagements this season include Lensky in Eugene Onegin in St. Petersburg, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles in Vienna, and Arturo in I Puritani in Turin, as well as a concert in Paris.

Luca Pisaroni made his Met debut as Publio in La Clemenza di Tito in 2005 and has since sung two other major Mozart roles with the company, the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro and Leporello in Don Giovanni. He also sang the role of Caliban in the premiere of the Met's baroque pastiche, The Enchanted Island in 2011, and Alidoro in La Cenerentola in last season's revival. Elsewhere this season he alternates singing the roles of the Count and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro in various locations in Europe and North America.

Adam Plachetka joins the Met for the first time as Masetto, a role he has sung in Berlin, London, and at the Salzburg Festival. He has also sung the title role of Don Giovanni in Vienna, Berlin, and Prague. He returns to Salzburg this summer as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, a role he recently sang at the Vienna State Opera.

James Morris made his Met debut in 1971 as the King in Aida, and has gone on to sing many leading roles with the company. Most notably, he became the leading bass-baritone in the Wagner repertory for many years, singing Wotan in numerous Ring cycles, as well as the Dutchman in Der Fliegende Holländer, and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He has sung the Commendatore 35 times at the Met beginning in 1972 and as recently as 2012.

Don Giovanni Fun Facts

Don Giovanni is the most performed opera by Mozart in the Met's repertory. It was performed 12 times in the Met's initial 1883-84 season and has since had seven more productions; the present one by Michael Grandage, the eighth in Met history, premiered in 2011.

Legendary conductors who have led Don Giovanni at the Met: James Levine, Erich Leinsdorf, Gustav Mahler, Fritz Reiner, Tullio Serafin, George Szell, Bruno Walter

Legendary performers of the title role of Don Giovanni at the Met: George London, Victor Maurel, Sherrill Milnes, Ezio Pinza, Samuel Ramey, Ruggero Raimondi, Antonio Scotti, Cesare Siepi

Don Giovanni Radio Broadcasts

The Don Giovanni opening performance on February 4 will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on February 21 matinee.

The February 4 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's website, www.metopera.org.

The February 21 matinee performance will also be broadcast live over the Toll Bros. Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For More Information

For more information about this season's performances of Don Giovanni, please visit the Met's website at www.metopera.org.

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