Renée Fleming Sings Final Performance in Met Opera's DER ROSENKAVALIER, 4/13-5/1

Renée Fleming sings her final performances of one of her signature roles as the Marschallin in the Met's new production of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, opening April 13. Robert Carsen directs the new production-the company's first new staging of the piece since 1969-with Sebastian Weigle conducting all performances. The starry cast includes El?na Garan?a in her company role debut as the Marschallin's young lover, Octavian, opposite Erin Morley as Sophie, the innocent young woman who comes between Marschallin and Octavian; Günther Groissböck as Baron Ochs, the Marschallin's oafish cousin; Marcus Brück in his Met debut as Sophie's father Faninal; and Matthew Polenzani as the Italian Singer. Kathleen Kim sings Sophie in the April 28 and May 1 performances.

Carsen's staging features set design by Paul Steinberg, costume design by Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting design by Carsen and Peter Van Praet, and choreography by Philippe Giraudeau.

The May 13 matinee performance will be transmitted worldwide as part of the Met's Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 2,000 movie theaters in 71 countries around the world.

Cast and Conductor Bios

Renée Fleming was last seen in her acclaimed interpretation as the Marschallin with the company in 2010. She has sung the role 18 performances in her signature role at the Met, as well as the Vienna State Opera, Zurich Opera, Munich Opera Festival, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Over the course of her career with the company, she has sung 22 different roles in more than 240 performances in a wide-ranging repertory. Her most recent appearances with the company have included Hanna Glawari in the new production of Lehár's The Merry Widow; the title characters in Dvo?ák's Rusalka, Handel's Rodelinda, Rossini's Armida, and Massenet's Thaïs; Desdemona in Verdi's Otello; and the Countess in Strauss's Capriccio. In May, she will be a soloist at the Met's 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center Gala.

El?na Garan?a makes her company role debut as Octavian, a signature role for the Latvian mezzo-soprano, which she has also sung with the Vienna State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin. After making her Met debut in 2008 as Rosina in Rossini's IL Barbiere di Siviglia, she starred as Angelina in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Sesto in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, the title role of Bizet's Carmen, and last season, her role debut as Sara in the Met premiere of Donizetti'sRoberto Devereux. Later this season, she will sing at the Met's 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center Gala.

Erin Morley made her role debut singing Sophie with the company during the 2013-14 season. As a graduate of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, she has sung 11 roles at the Met, including Constance in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites; Woglinde and the Forest Bird in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen; Madame Podtochina's daughter in the Met premiere of Shostakovich's The Nose; Echo in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos; and the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. She will reprise the role of Olympia in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann during the Met's 2017-18 season.

Kathleen Kim makes her role debut as Sophie during the April 28 and May 1 performances. She made her company debut in 2007 as Barbarina in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro followed by performances as Oscar in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, Papagena in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Chiang Ch'ing in John Adams's Nixon in China, Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and most recently, Blondchen in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Next season, she will star as the Fairy Godmother in the Met premiere of Massenet's Cendrillon.

Günther Groissböck adds a new role to his Met repertory as Baron Ochs, a role he has sung at La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, and Salzburg Festival. Previous roles with the company include his Met debut as Colline in Puccini's La Bohème, Banquo in Verdi's Macbeth, Lodovico in the new production of Otello, Landgraf Hermann in Wagner's Tannhäuser, and most recently this past season as Don Fernando in Beethoven's only opera Fidelio. Next season, he will sing King Marke in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Dutch National Opera and Gurnemanz in Wagner's Parsifal at the Paris Opera.

Matthew Polenzani makes his Met role debut as the Italian Singer. He has sung 337 performances with the Met since his company debut in 1997 as Boyar in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. Other credits with the company include the title role of Mozart's Idomeneo, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, the title character in Les Contes d' Hoffmann, the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, and last season, role debuts as Nadir in the Met premieres of Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles and in the title role of Roberto Devereux. This season, he will sing Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and he will be featured as a soloist in the Met's 50th Anniversary at Lincoln Center Gala. Next season, he will reprise the role of Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore with the company.

Marcus Brück makes his Met debut as Faninal. He is a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and has sung the role of Faninal with the opera company, as well Marcello in La Bohème, the title role of Rigoletto, and Figaro in IL Barbiere di Siviglia. His credits with other companies include Giorgio Germont in Verdi's La Traviata at the Frankfurt Opera, Günther in Wagner's Götterdämmerung and Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Seattle Opera, and the title role ofMacbeth at the Zurich Opera. After singing Faninal at the Met, he will star as Andrey Shchelkalov in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Sebastian Weigle made his Met debut conducting Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in 2000, and earlier this season, he conducted Fidelio with the company. He has conducted at many opera houses around the world including the Dresden State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, and the Munich Opera Festival. From 2004 to 2009, the German maestro was the General Music Director of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and since 2008, he has been the General Music Director of the Frankfurt Opera. After conducting Der Rosenkavalier, he will conduct Strauss's Arabella and Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer at the Frankfurt Opera.

Director and Creative Team Bios

Robert Carsen made his Met debut in 1996 with a production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and returned to the Met in 1999 to stage Boito's Mefistofele followed by Falstaff in 2013. As one of the most prolific directors in opera, his recent productions have included Boito's Mefistofele at the San Francisco Opera; Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi, Die Zauberflöte, Handel's Alcina, and Strauss's Elektra at the Paris Opera; Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Rameau's Platée at Opéra-Comique, Paris Opera, and Vienna State Opera; Ariadne auf Naxos at the Bavarian State Opera and Munich Festival; Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades at the Zurich Opera; La Traviata at La Fenice; and Wagner's Die Walküre at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona. His other theater credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead with Roundabout Theater, The Beautiful Game on the West End, Sunset Boulevard on tour in the UK, and Singin' in the Rain, Candide, and My Fair Lady at the Théâtre du Châtelet.

Paul Steinberg made his Met debut as the scenic designer for Un Ballo in Maschera during the 2012-13 season followed by Falstaff the following season. His recent opera designs include Britten's Peter Grimes for Deutsche Oper Berlin and English National Opera, Don Giovanni at English National Opera, Rossini's Semiramide at the Bavarian State Opera, and Lohengrin at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Costume designer Brigitte Reiffenstuel's previous Met productions include David McVicar's stagings of Il Trovatore and Handel's Giulio Cesare, and Un Ballo in Maschera, as well as Carsen's production of Falstaff. Her other opera credits include designing costumes for Peter Grimes at the English National Opera, Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Los Angeles Opera, Berg's Lulu at the Bavarian State Opera, Puccini's La Rondine at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Cilea'sAdriana Lecouvreur and Elektra at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Lighting designer Peter Van Praet made his Met debut with Carsen's production of Falstaff. He frequently collaborates with Carsen, including Elektra at the Paris Opera, Die Zauberflöte at the Baden-Baden Festival and Paris Opera, and Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Vienna State Opera. In June, he will be the lighting designer for the new production of Carmen at the Rome Opera.

Philippe Giraudeau made his company debut choreographing A Midsummer Night's Dream during the 1996-97 season, followed by choreographing The Merry Widow. The French choreographer has worked extensively as a movement director and choreographer in opera and has choreographed many operas for Carsen including Handel's Rinaldo for Glyndebourne Festival; Don Giovanni, Dialogues des Carmélites and Janá?ek's Káta Kabanová for La Scala; Rusalka for the Paris Opéra; and Iphigénie en Tauride at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Other opera credits include Verdi's Aida and Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila at the Scottish Opera, Janá?ek's Jen?fa and Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Traviata at La Fenice and the Baden-Baden Festival.

Der Rosenkavalier Fun Facts

The librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal based his libretto on Moliere's comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac and Louvet de Couvrai's Les Amours du Chevalier de Faublas. Ernst von Schuch, who also conducted Strauss's premieres of Salome, Elektra, and Feuersnot, led the opening in Dresden in 1911, with a production directed by Max Reinhardt (who later established the Salzburg Festival). The opera premiered to great success from music critics, as well as the public: tickets sold out almost immediately following the Dresden premiere.

The United States premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera two years later in 1913 with Alfred Hertz conducting Frieda Hempel as the Marschallin and Margarete Ober as Octavian. Since then, Der Rosenkavalier has been staged 384 times, the most-staged Strauss opera with the company.

Der Rosenkavalier Live in HD and Radio Broadcasts

The May 13 matinee performance of Der Rosenkavalier will be transmitted live around the world at 12:30 p.m. ET as part of the Met's Live in HD series. The transmission, hosted by Deborah Voigt, will be seen in more than 2,000 movie theaters in 71 countries around the world.

The April 13 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on April 17 and May 9. The April 13 and May 9 performances will also be streamed live on the Met's Web site, www.metopera.org.

The May 13 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

For More Information, Go to the Met's Web Site

For more information on Der Rosenkavalier, including casting by date, please click here.

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