Verdi’s Ernani Returns to the Met 2/2

Verdi's Ernani returns to the Met February 2, with Roberto de Biasio and Marcello Giordani sharing the title role of a bandit hero, Angela Meade Elvira, Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Don Carlo, and Ferruccio Furlanetto as de Silva. Marco Armiliato conducts all six performances of the early Verdi opera, which will be seen in Pier Luigi Samaratini's colorful production. The February 25 matinee will be transmitted live as part of The Met: Live in HD series, which now reaches more than 1,700 movie theaters in 54 countries around the world.

Verdi's opera, based on Victor Hugo's revolutionary play, involves three men--two noble, and one a bandit--who attempt to out-maneuver one another for the hand of the beautiful Elvira. Italian tenor De Biasio, who sings Ernani on February 2, 6, and 10 made his Met debut last season as Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra. Later this season, he will sing Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Giordani, who last sang Ernani in the Met's 2007-08 season, takes the role on February 14. His other Met engagements this season include Pinkerton and Radamès in Verdi's Aida.

American soprano Meade made an her Met debut as Elvira in the 2007-08 revival of Ernani, filling in at the last minute for an ailing Sondra Radvanovsky. Earlier this season, she sang the daunting title role of Donizetti's Anna Bolena. She was a winner of the Met's National Council Auditions in 2007 and has also appeared with the Met as the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and as a soloist in the 2011 Summer Recital Series.

Hvorostovsky makes his Met role debut as Don Carlo. This is the sixth Verdi role in his Met repertory, joining the title character in Simon Boccanegra, Germont in La Traviata (a role he repeats later this season), Rodrigo in Don Carlo, Renato in Un Ballo in Maschera, and di Luna in Il Trovatore. De Silva is the second of three roles Furlanetto sings at the Met this season. He made his house role debut as Méphistophélès in the new production of Gounod's Faust and will reprise his Don Basilio in Rossini's IL Barbiere di Siviglia later this season. The versatile artist first sang de Silva at the Met in the 2007-08 revival of Ernani.

Armiliato's numerous Met appearances have included a variety of Verdi works, from the early Attila to the repertory staples Aida (which he conducts again this season), Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore. Earlier this season, he led the Met premiere of Anna Bolena.

Ernani Live in HD and on the Radio
The February 25 matinee of Ernani, hosted by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, will be transmitted live as part of The Met: Live in HD series, which is now seen in more than 1700 movie theaters in 54 countries around the world.

The February 2 opening performance will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on February 14 and 25. The February 2 performance will also be streamed live on the Met's Web site, www.metopera.org.

The February 25 matinee will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.