Olga Peretyatko to Make Met Debut in Bellini's I PURITANI, Beg. 4/17

Acclaimed Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko will make her Met debut as Elvira in a revival of Bellini's I Puritani, with Met stars Lawrence Brownlee and Mariusz Kwiecien in their respective company role debuts as Arturo and Riccardo. Michele Mariotti conducts a cast that also includes Michele Pertusi as Elvira's father, Giorgio, in a revival of the bel canto opera opening April 17. The Met performances will be the first time the husband-and-wife pairing of Mariotti and Peretyatko have performed I Puritani together. The opera will be seen in a revival of Sandro Sequi's 1976 production, which has served as a showcase for such formidable stars as Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Edita Gruberova, and Anna Netrebko.

Olga Peretyatko has sung the role of Elvira at Lyon Opera and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. She first came to international prominence as the Nightingale in Robert Lepage's production of The Nightingale and Other Short Fables, an evening of short works by Stravinsky that was performed to acclaim at the Canadian Opera Company, Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Brooklyn Academy of Music, among other venues. Her recent performances with other opera companies have included Marfa in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride at La Scala and the Berlin State Opera; Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto at Zurich Opera and the Arena di Verona; and Zerbinetta in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at Hamburg State Opera.

Lawrence Brownlee has sung Arturo with Seattle Opera and Washington Concert Opera. He made his Met debut in 2007 as Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, a role he reprised at the Met in 2010 and will sing again with the company next fall. His other bel canto roles at the Met have included Rinaldo in the company premiere of Rossini's Armida, Don Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and Tonio in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment.

Mariusz Kwiecien has sung Riccardo with Paris Opera and the Vienna State Opera. Earlier this season, he starred in the title role of the Met's season-opening new production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. A graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he has sung more than 150 Met performances including five roles in new production premieres: Belcore in last season's L'Elisir d'Amore, the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni (2011), Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen (2009), Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor (2007), and Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale (2006). Kwiecien made his Met debut as Kuligin in a 1999 revival of Janá?ek's Kát'a Kabanová and has also starred at the Met in a variety of other roles, most frequently Marcello in La Bohème, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte.

Michele Pertusi has sung Giorgio with Paris Opera, Lyon Opera, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. He currently stars in another Bellini opera, La Sonnambula, at the Met, in which he sings the role of Rodolfo. His other roles with the company have included Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola, the Tutor in Le Comte Ory, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and both Count Almaviva and the title character in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

Michele Mariotti made his Met debut last season conducting Bizet's Carmen and returned in January 2013 to conduct the new production premiere of Rigoletto. He conducted I Puritani at the Paris Opera earlier this season with a cast that included Mariusz Kwiecien and Michele Pertusi. He is the Principal Conductor of Teatro Comunale in Bologna, where he has led performances of a varied repertory including I Puritani, Bellini's Norma, Carmen, Mozart's Idomeneo and Le Nozze di Figaro, Rossini's La Gazza Ladra and La Cenerentola, and Verdi's La Traviata and Simon Boccanegra. Next season, he will return to the Met to lead the company premiere of another bel canto opera, Rossini's La Donna del Lago.

I Puritani Radio Broadcasts: The April 17 opening performance of I Puritani will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on April 29 and May 3. The April 17 and 29 performances will also be streamed live on the Met's website, www.metopera.org.

The May 3 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For more information on this season's performances of I Puritani, visit the Met's website at www.metopera.org.

Pictured: Olga Peretyatko. Photo by Rabovsky.ru.

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