Metropolitan Opera Announces Cast Change For ARMIDA

In the Saturday, May 1 matinee performance of Rossini's Armida, Barry Banks will sing the role of Gernando in addition to the scheduled role of Carlo, as he did for the April 27 performance. He replaces José Manuel Zapata, who is ill. The character of Gernando only appears in Act I, and Carlo only appears in Act III, which makes it possible for the roles to be performed by one singer. The performance, which begins at 1 p.m. (ET), will be transmitted live to movie theaters around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series.

Banks sang Count Almaviva earlier this season at the Met. He made his debut as Flute in the 1996 Met premiere of A Midsummer Night's Dream and also appeared as the Fisherman in Le Rossignol and the Shepherd in Oedipus Rex. He is best known for bel canto roles such as the two he sang last season at the Met: Elvino in La Sonnambula and Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore. He has also appeared here as Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Tonio in La Fille du Régiment, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Lindoro in L'Italiana in Algeri, and Prince Ramiro in La Cenerentola.

Armida is conducted by Riccardo Frizza and features Renée Fleming in the title role, with Lawrence Brownlee as Rinaldo, John Osborn as Goffredo, Kobie van Rensburg as Ubaldo, Yegishe Manucharyan as Eustazio, Peter Volpe as Idraote, and Keith Miller as Astarotte. The new production is by Mary Zimmerman.