BREAKING NEWS - Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja will not join the Met Tour to Japan

Met officials said on Monday that star soprano Anna Netrebko and star tenor Joseph Calleja will not take part of the Met Tour to Japan 2011. The two stars dropped out at the last minute due to their concerns about nuclear radiation following the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant disaster.

Ms. Netrebko has made a public statement posted on her official website. "This was an incredibly difficult decision for me; it was made on a very personal level with a great deal of pain and conflicting emotions." said Netrebko.

Ms. Netrebko and Mr. Calleja only made their intentions known last week, days before the begin of the tour. In a statement, the Met said, "Ms. Netrebko changed her mind because of the emotional weight of having also lived through the tragedy of Chernobyl." Mr. Calleja "also had last-minute misgivings", the Met said.

James Levine, due to health issues, and Jonas Kaufmann also dropped out of the tour some weeks ago.

Barbara Frittoli, who sings the role of Elisabeth in Verdi's "Don Carlos", will substitute Ms. Netrebko as Mimi in Puccini's "La Bohème". Marina Poplavskaya will join the tour to sing Elisabeth, a role she filled during the season in New York.

The Met contacted the tenors Marcelo Álvarez, Rolando Villazón and Alexey Dolgov, and they agreed to fill in for performances by Mr. Calleja. Mr. Alvarez will sing the role of Rodolfo in two performances of Puccini's "La Bohème" and Mr. Alvarez and Mr.Villazón will each sing the role of Edgardo in one performance of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor". Piotr Beczala already was taking turns in both roles.

L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011

Anna Netrebko has returned to the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg to open the XIX Music Festival "Stars of the White Nights" singing the role of Adina in Laurent Pelly's production of Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" on 23. May 2011. Maetsro Valery Gergiev was on the pit, being the first time he was conducting this opera at the Mariinsky Theater. This was a co-production of the Opéra national de Paris and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" was first time ever staged at the Mariinsky Theater on 24. Jan 2011 starring also Anna Netrebko as Adina. 

We may be pretty sure that Miss Netrebko was really happy about the performance, as when she came on the stage for the final curtain calls, she came running and making a cartwheel to the pleasure and surprise of everybody.

L'elisir d'amore

Melodramma Giocoso in 2 Acts (1832)

Music by Gaetano Donizetti

Libretto by Felice Romani after that of Eugène Scribe for Daniel Auber's Le Philtre

Mariinsky Theater, St, Petersburg 23. May 2011 | 20:00

CAST

Adina: Anna Netrebko

Nemorino: Sergei Skorokhodov

Belcore: Vladimir Moroz

Il Dottor Dulcamara: Andrei Serov

Giannetta: Svetlana Kiseleva

CREDITS

Conductor: Valery Gergiev

Stage Director and Costume Designer: Laurent Pelly

Stage Director for the Mariinsky Theatre: Christian Räth

Set Designer: Chantal Thomas

Assistant Set Designer: Caroline Ginet

Lighting Designer: Joël Adam

Musical Preparation: Irina Soboleva

Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko

Italian Language Coach: Maria Nikitina

Chorus of the Mariinsky Theater

Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater

Co-production of the Opéra national de Paris and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London

CHARACTERS

Adina: ricca e capricciosa fittaiuola (soprano)

Nemorino: coltivatore; giovine semplice, innamorato di Adina (tenore)

Belcore: sergente di guarnigione nel villaggio (baritono)

Il Dottore Dulcamara: medico ambulante (basso comico)

Giannetta: villanella (soprano)

Cori e comparse di villani e villanelle, soldati e suonatori del reggimento, un notaio, due servitori, un moro.

ABOUT THE OPERA

L'elisir d'amore in Wikipedia [English]

L'elisir d'amore: Synopsis [English]

L'elisir d'amore: Libretto [Italian]

VIDEOCLIPS

PHOTOS

L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko (Adina), Sergei Skorokhodov (Nemorino), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko (Adina), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko (Adina), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko (Adina), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Vladimir Moroz (Belcore), Valery Gergiev (Conductor), Anna Netrebko (Adina), Sergei Skorokhodov (Nemorino), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko (Adina), Sergei Skorokhodov (Nemorino), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Valery Gergiev (Conductor), Anna Netrebko (Adina), Sergei Skorokhodov (Nemorino), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Sergei Skorokhodov (Nemorino), Valery Gergiev (Conductor), Anna Netrebko (Adina), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko (Adina), L'elisir d'amore, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 23. May 2011. Photo: Olga

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