Dream Cast

Hey, everybody, Antoni here with a set of operatic dream casts I have in store for you. For someone who has been a huge aficionado of opera ever since I was nine years old, I thought it would be fun if I came up with a set of dream casts of twelve of my favorite operas. What better place to start than with some of my favorite Bel Canto operas if I were to travel back to the 2000s. This is also my contribution for this year’s Red Ribbon Reviewers month.   Gaetano Donizetti’s Anna Bolena Anna Bolena- Anna-Kristiina Kaappola Giovanna Seymour- Nancy Fabiola Herrera Smeton- Christine Rice Enrico VIII- Jaco Huijpen Riccardo Percy- Roberto Alagna Lord Rochefort- Graeme Broadbent Sir Hervey- Matthew Beale   Gaetano Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda Elisabetta I- Ruxandra Donose Maria Stuarda- Anna-Kristiina Kaappola Anna Kennedy- Valentina Kutzarova Talbot- Franz Hawlata Leicester- Roberto Alagna Cecil- Sebastian Holecek   Gaetano Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux Roberto Devereux- Roberto Alagna Elisabetta I- Anna-Kristiina Kaappola Duca di Nottingham- Carlos Alvarez Sara- Stephanie Blythe Gualtiero Raleigh- Giovanni Furlanetto Lord Cecil- Colin Judson   Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia Ashton- Marlis Petersen Edgardo Ravenswood- Paul Groves Enrico Ashton- Lado Ataneli Raimondo Bidebent- Hans Peter König Arturo Bucklaw- Chad Shelton Normanno- Saverio Fiore Alisa- Atala Schöck   Gaetano Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix Linda- Marlis Petersen Carlo- Paul Groves Pierrotto- Elizabeth Bishop Maddalena- Michaela Schuster Prefetto- Carlo Colombara Marchese di Boisfleury- Maurizio Muraro Antonio- Carlos Alvarez L’Intendante- Chad Shelton   Vincenzo Bellini’s Norma Norma- Luba Orgonasova Pollione- Antonio Nagore Oroveso- Roberto Scandiuzzi Adalgisa- Zheng Cao Flavio- Will Hartmann Clotilde- Patricia Risley   Vincenzo Bellini’s La Sonnambula Amina- Elena Mosuc Elvino- Ramon Vargas Conte Rodolfo- Roberto Scandiuzzi Teresa- Iris Vermilion Lisa- Dawn Kotoski Alessio- Michele Pertusi Notaio- Kevin Conners   Vincenzo Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi Giulietta- Natalie Dessay Romeo- Beatrice Uria Monzon Tebaldo- Roberto Sacca Capellio- Albert Dohmen Lorenzo- Hao Jiang Tian   Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani Elvira- Mary Dunleavy Arturo- Marcelo Alvarez Riccardo- Roberto Servile Gualtiero- Clive Bayley Giorgio- Giacomo Prestia Bruno- Matthew Polenzani Enrichetta- Stephanie Novacek   Gioacchino Rossini’s Semiramide Semiramide- Hellen Kwon Arsace- Sonia Ganassi Azema- Laura Claycomb Idreno- Chris Merritt Mitrane- Jeffrey Francis Assur- John-Paul Bogart Oroe- Kristinn Sigmundsson L’Ombra di Nino- Walter Fink   Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia Figaro- Paolo Gavanelli Almaviva- Roberto Sacca Rosina- Natalie Dessay Dottor Bartolo- Gilles Cachemaille Don Basilio- Kristinn Sigmundsson Berta- Jadwiga Rappé Fiorello- Christian Gerhaher Ufficiale- Detlef Roth   Gioacchino Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims Madama Cortese- Klara Kolonits Corinna- Diana Damrau Marchesa Melibea- Kate Aldrich Contessa di Folleville- Anna Christy Conte di Libenskof- Michael Schade Cavalier Belfiore- José Bros Don Luigino- Steve Davislim Don Alvaro- Andrea Concetti Antonio- Carlos Alvarez Don Profondo- Hans Peter König Lord Sidney- Carlo Colombara Don Prudenzio- Stephen Milling Barone di Trombonok- Maurizio Muraro Zefirino- Dietmar Kerschbaum Gelsomino- Peter Marsh Maddalena- Stephanie d’Oustrac Modestina- Ailish Tynan Delia- Sabina Puertolas   So, fellow opera fans, these are my dream casts for my favorite Bel Canto operas if ever I wanted to go back in time to the 2000s. Please let me know if you also have a dream cast for these twelve Bel Canto operas. Happy Holidays and stay safe, everybody.