Lorin Maazel Returns to the Met to Conduct Verdi's Don Carlo

Anna Smirnova made her Met debut as Eboli in the 2010 new production premiere of Don Carlo. She has also sung the role at La Scala, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In recent seasons, she has sung Amneris in Verdi's Aida at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Finland's Savonlinna Opera Festival, and the Bavarian State Opera; Azucena in Il Trovatore in Florence and Rovigo; and Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Spain.

Earlier this season, Dmitri Hvorostovsky sang Anckarström in the new production premiere of Un Ballo in Maschera. He first sang Rodrigo at the Met in the 2001-02 season and repeated the role in the house in 2006 and on the Met's tour of Japan in 2011. His company repertory also includes Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Don Carlo in Ernani, the title character in Simon Boccanegra, and di Luna in Il Trovatore. His other Met appearances have included the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Valentin in Faust, the title role inDon Giovanni, Prince Andrey in Prokofiev's War and Peace, Belcore in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, the role of his debut. Later this season, he will sing the title role in Eugene Onegin at Vienna State Opera and the title role in Rigoletto at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.

Ferruccio Furlanetto first sang Philip II at the Met in 2005 and repeated the role in the 2010 new production premiere of Hytner's staging. He has sung Philip with numerous leading opera companies, including La Scala, Vienna State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He made his Met debut as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo in 1980 and has since sung more than 200 performances with the company, including Giovanni in Verdi's I Vespri Siciliani, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra, and de Silva inErnani. Later this season, he will sing Thomas Becket in Renzetti's Murder in the Cathedral at San Diego Opera and both Fiesco and Philip at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Don Carlo Radio Broadcasts

The February 22 opening performanceof Don Carlo will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on March 6 and 9. The February 22 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's website,www.metopera.org.

The March 9 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.