Kristine Opolais will sing the HD performance of Puccini's "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan Opera.
The Latvian soprano is replacing Romanian soprano Anita Hartig who was scheduled to perform the role. Opolais sings the title role a day after she sang the premiere of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly." The soprano agreed to perform the work when she got the call at 8 am on Saturday morning.
The soprano who obtained a standing ovation at the performance of "Butterfly" is a rising star who made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in 2013 in the role of Magda in Puccini's "La Rondine." The soprano is in high demand all around the world and renown for her Mimi. She has sung the role at the Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera and Latvian National Opera. She is slated to return to the Royal Opera House this summer for an HD performance of Puccini' "Manon Lescaut" in which she will make her role debut alongside superstar Jonas Kaufmann. She will also perform at the Munich Festival in Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito." The soprano will return to the Met next season for another round of Mimi's alongside Ramon Vargas.
The soprano will sing the title role alongside Vittorio Grigolo in the role of Rodolfo. Grigolo scored rave reviews and Latinos Post stated, " His 'Che Gelida Manina' was full of warmth and intensity; the "chi son e che faccio' featured a high note that rung with vibrant enthusiasm."
The cast will also feature Susanna Phillips as Musetta, Massimo Cavalletti as Marcello, Patrick Carfizzi as Schaunard, Oren Gradus as Colline and Donald Maxwell as both Benoit and Alcindoro.
The last minute cancellation is the latest in the Met season. Last month Thomas Hampson cancelled the opening night performance of Berg's "Wozzeck." Matthias Goerne replaced the ill baritone a day after singing the role at Carnegie Hall with the Vienna State Opera. Other singers who have stepped for ailing performers include Piotr Beczala for Rolando Villazon and Angela Gheorghiu for Anna Netrebko.
The "La Boheme" production by Franco Zeffirelli is the second time the opera has been screened in HD. The opera was first seen in HD in 2008 with Gheorghiu and Ramon Vargas. The opera will be seen in over 2,000 movie theaters in 66 different countries.
The opera will be hosted by Joyce Didonato.