Artur Ruciński replaces Domingo again

Artur Ruciński backstage as di Luna in Venice and at the Rosenblatt Recitals

Artur Ruciński may want to just follow tenor turned "baritone" Placido Domingo around, as he's slated to replace him for the second time in less than a year. After replacing him this summer at the Salzburg Festival, he's now jumping in for him as the Count di Luna in Berlin. 

Domingo's foray into the baritone range has been met with a mixed critical reaction and has caused many in the music industry to question whether this change of fach should continue.

Artur Ruciński sings of Mieczysław Karłowicz songs:

Ruciński is a formidable baritone talent in his own right. He made his debut at the National Opera in Warsaw in 2002 and was launched to stardom in 2010 when he sang Eugene Onegin in Berlin with  Daniel Barenboim.

In 2013, he made his Covent Garden debut as Germont in Verdi’s La traviata, a role he's currently performing in Berlin. Upcoming roles include Ashton in Lucia in Hamburg and Zurich, Don Giovanni in Paris and his Metropolitan Opera debut as Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly in 2016.

The singer with the most roles in the history of opera has dropped one from his baritone register. Placido Domingo has pulled out of Il Trovatore in Berlin, La Scala and this summer’s Salzburg Festival, saying he can’t manage Count Luna again.
Salzburg has replaced him with Artur Ruciński, who stood in for Domingo last summer.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2015/03/domingo-drops-a-role/#sthash.Q4pJ0SZk.dpuf

The singer with the most roles in the history of opera has dropped one from his baritone register. Placido Domingo has pulled out of Il Trovatore in Berlin, La Scala and this summer’s Salzburg Festival, saying he can’t manage Count Luna again.
Salzburg has replaced him with Artur Ruciński, who stood in for Domingo last summer.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2015/03/domingo-drops-a-role/#sthash.Q4pJ0SZk.dpuf

The singer with the most roles in the history of opera has dropped one from his baritone register. Placido Domingo has pulled out of Il Trovatore in Berlin, La Scala and this summer’s Salzburg Festival, saying he can’t manage Count Luna again.
Salzburg has replaced him with Artur Ruciński, who stood in for Domingo last summer.
- See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2015/03/domingo-drops-a-role/#sthash.Q4pJ0SZk.dpuf

Seth Mease Carico returning to US for Elixir of Love

Seth Mease Carico (photo by Nacho Guerrero)

Barihunk Seth Mease Carico will join four other former Opera Saratoga Young Artists in a series of performances, including Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Donizetti's Elixir of Love, as well as a workshop performance Evan Mack's new opera Roscoe. The project was made possible by a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Carico will be featured in the Elixir of Love.

Carico has been a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he is currently singing the Villains in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, the Speaker in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Ceprano in Verdi's Rigoletto and the First Mate in Britten's Billy Budd.

Based on the best-selling novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy, the story of Roscoe takes place on V-J-day in 1945. Roscoe Conway, after twenty-six years as the second in command of Albany's notorious political machine, decides to quit politics forever. But there's no way out, and only his Machiavellian imagination can help him cope with the erupting disasters. Every step leads back to the past -- to the early loss of his true love, the takeover of city hall, the machine's fight with FDR and Al Smith to elect a governor, and the methodical assassination of gangster Jack (Legs) Diamond.

 Kevin Kees sings Roscoe's aria:

A workshop performance of Act 1 of Roscoe will be performed by Opera Saratoga at the Helen Filene Ladd Theater on June 8th. Click HERE for tickets