LA TRAVIATA Returns to the Met, 12/11

La Traviata will return to the Met stage December 11 with two rotating casts of stars, all of whom are singing their first company performances of the principal roles. Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka, who made a notable debut as Donna Anna in the 2011 new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, brings her acclaimed Violetta to the Met for the first time in the opening performances, with American tenor Stephen Costello as her impetuous lover Alfredo. Later performances will feature Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva-currently starring in her first-ever staged performances of Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème-as Violetta, opposite Italian tenor Francesco Demuro as Alfredo. The role of Giorgio Germont, Alfredo's father, will be shared by American baritone Quinn Kelsey and French baritone Ludovic Tézier. Marco Armiliato will lead all performances of Verdi's romantic tragedy this season. Willy Decker's acclaimed production had its Met premiere in 2010.

Marina Rebeka has sung Violetta at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, and Italy's Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Later this season, she will sing the role at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Her other recent performances include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Zurich Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Mathilde in Rossini's Guillaume Tell at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Dutch National Opera, and Bavarian State Opera; and Antonia in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Vienna State Opera. This January, she will sing her first Met performances of Musetta in La Bohème.

Sonya Yoncheva made her Met debut last season as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto, as a late replacement for a colleague who withdrew due to pregnancy, and returned last month to make an acclaimed staged role debut as Mimì in La Bohème. She has sung Violetta with the Berlin State Opera; Bavarian State Opera; Opera Monte Carlo; Palau de les Arts, Valencia; Chartres Festival; and Malaysia Philharmonic, and will sing the role this spring at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Stephen Costello made his Met debut on opening night of the 2007-08 season, when he sang Arturo in a new production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. He returned in 2011-12 for another season-opening production, the Met premiere of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, in which he sang Riccardo Percy. He has sung Alfredo with Cincinnati Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. This April, he will return to the Met as Camille in this season's new production of Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow.

Francesco Demuro made an unexpected Met debut last month as Rodolfo in La Bohème, as a late replacement for an ailing colleague. He has sung Alfredo with Paris Opera, Vienna State Opera, Detroit Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and will sing it later this season at Madrid's Teatro Real, Venice's Teatro la Fenice, and Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Quinn Kelsey has sung three previous roles at the Met: both Schaunard and Marcello in La Bohème; and Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto. He has sung Giorgio at San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Seoul Arts Center (opposite Marina Rebeka). His other performances this season include Giorgio at Zurich Opera, the Count di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the title role in Rigoletto at Santa Fe Opera.

Ludovic Tézier made his Met debut in 2002 as Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen. In subsequent seasons, he has also sung Marcello in La Bohème, the Count in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met. He has sung Giorgio at the Paris Opera and Aix-en-Provence Festival, and will sing it later this season at the Baden-Baden Festival.

Marco Armiliato has conducted more than 300 Met performances, including La Traviata in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010. He has led the company premieres of Anna Bolena, Wolf-Ferrari's Sly, and Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac, as well as new production premieres of Puccini's La Rondine and Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment. This season, he also conducts a Met revival of Verdi's Aida.

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