Anna Netrebko has cancelled the first two performances of "L'Elisir D'Amore."
The Met Opera press office stated, "The Russian soprano Anna Netrebko has withdrawn from the first two performances of Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" at the Metropolitan Opera this month because she is suffering from the flu, the opera house announced Tuesday."
"In her place, Andriana Chuchman, a Canadian soprano, will make her Met debut singing the role of Adina when the revival opens on Jan. 9, and she is scheduled to sing the role again on Jan. 13."
Netrebko inaugurated the current production of "L'Elisir d'Amore," which is directed by Bartlett Sher, when it opened the Met's 2012-13 season. She recently made her role debut as Leonora in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" at the Berlin State Opera. She also opened the Met's 2013-14 season with a new production of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin."
Chuchman had been scheduled to make her Met debut in February as Miranda in the Baroque pastiche "The Enchanted Island." She recently sang in the Washington National Opera production of "Showboat" and in Glyndebourne's "Hansel und Gretel." Chuchman has also sang the roles of Olympia in Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffman," Susanna in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro."
L'Elisir d'Amore will be conducted by Maurizio Benini and will also star Ramón Vargas, Nicola Alaimo and Erwin Schrott.
Donizetti's comic masterpiece will also be performed on Jan 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, and Feb. 1.