Met Opera's DON PASQUALE Opens 3/4

Donizetti's comedy Don Pasquale will return to the Met March 4 for a starry revival featuring Ambrogio Maestri in his first-ever performances of the title role, opposite Javier Camarena, who caused a sensation in his 2014 Met appearances in La Cenerentola, as the lovelorn Ernesto. Italian soprano Eleonora Buratto will make her Met debut as the bewitching Norina, opposite Levente Molnár as the two-faced physician, Dr. Malatesta. Maurizio Benini conducts Otto Schenk's 2006 production.

Ambrogio Maestri made his Met debut in 2004 as Amonasro in Verdi's Aida, followed by performances of Alfio in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana in 2006, a role he repeated earlier this season. His other company credits include Dulcamara in L'Elisir d'Amore and his signature role, the title character in Verdi's Falstaff, which he sang at the Met in a new production in 2013. Later this season, Maestri will sing Scarpia in Tosca at the Bavarian State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, Falstaff at Symphony Hall, Birmingham UK in addition to reprising the title role of Don Pasquale at the Vienna State Opera.

Javier Camarena sang Don Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola during the Met's 2013-14 season, in which the overwhelming audience response led the Mexican tenor to give a mid-performance encore of the aria "Si, ritrovarla io giuro." Previously, Camarena has sung Ernesto at the Zurich Opera. He made his Met debut in 2011 as Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and returned in 2014 to sing Elvino in Bellini's La Sonnambula. During the Met's 2016-17 season, he will reprise the role of Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, as well as adding another role to his Met repertory: Lord Arturo Talbot in Bellini's I Puritani.

Eleonora Buratto has previously sung the role of Norina at the Teatro Real in Madrid, as well as the Rome Opera. Her other recent credits include Adina in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore at La Scala, Zurich Opera, and Teatro Real in Madrid; Liù in Puccini's Turandot and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen at Teatro San Carlo; and Echo in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburg Festival. Later this season, she will star as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Dutch National Opera.

Levente Molnár has previously sung Dr. Malatesta at the Hungarian State Opera. He made his Met debut earlier this season starring as Marcello in La Bohème, a role he will reprise with the company in April and May following performances of Don Pasquale. His other performances this season include Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at the Bavarian State Opera.

Maurizio Benini has conducted over 165 performances at the Met since his company debut in 1998 leading L'Elisir d'Amore. The Italian conductor has led performances at various opera houses around the world including the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Some of his notable performances conducting at the Met include last season's Lucia di Lammermoor, Rossini's Le Comte Ory, Faust, Bellini's Norma, and the Met premiere of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. Later this season, he will conduct the Met premiere of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, and next season, he can be seen leading Il Barbiere di Siviglia as well as I Puritani.

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