Metropolitan Opera Announces MADAMA BUTTERFLY Cast Update

Ana María Martínez will sing her first Met performances of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly on February 19 and 22, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill. Hong is scheduled to sing the performances on February 25, March 2 and 5, as previously announced.

American soprano Ana María Martínez has sung Cio-Cio-San to acclaim with numerous leading opera companies, including the Vienna State Opera, the Munich Opera Festival, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington National Opera. She will sing the role with Los Angeles Opera later this spring. Martínez made her Met debut in 2005 as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen and returned earlier this season to sing Musetta in Puccini's La Bohème. She is currently singing the title role in Dvo?ák's Rusalka with Houston Grand Opera; this summer, she will sing Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi's Don Carlo with San Francisco Opera.

The initial Met performances of Madama Butterfly this season are conducted by Karel Mark Chichon in his Met debut and also star Roberto DiBiasio (February 19, 22, 27) and Gwyn Hughes Jones (March 2 and 5) as Pinkerton, Maria Zifchak as Suzuki, and Polish baritone Artur Rucinski in his Met debut as Sharpless. For more information, please visit the Met's website at www.metopera.org.