Yusif Eyvazov will sing Calàf in the October 3, 6mat, 9, and 12mat performances of Puccini’s Turandot, replacing Roberto Aronica, who has withdrawn for personal reasons. Riccardo Massi will sing the role in performances on October 19mat, 23, 26; the singer for the role in the October 31 performance will be announced at a later date.

Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov reprises Calàf, the role in which he made his Met debut in 2015. Eyvazov’s other Met performances include his role debut last season as Dick Johnson in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West; Cavaradossi opposite his wife, Anna Netrebko, in Puccini’s Tosca; and the Met’s 50 Years at Lincoln Center Gala. This season at the Met, he also sings Hermann in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades and Cavaradossi and Calàf in the New Year’s Eve Gala. Recent past performances include Hermann and the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlo at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, the title role of Giordano’s Andrea Chénier at the Vienna State Opera, and Don Alvaro in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Other roles this season include Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur in concert at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Vienna State Opera.

Italian tenor Riccardo Massi has previously sung Calàf at the Cologne Opera. He made his Met debut in 2012 as Radamès in Verdi’s Aida, a role that he reprised in 2017. Other recent performances include Pollione in Bellini’s Norma at the Munich Opera Festival, des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi Theatre, Radamès at Opera Australia, and Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at Washington National Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. This season, he sings Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Bavarian State Opera, des Grieux at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, and Cavaradossi at the Munich Opera Festival. He has also been seen as a stuntman working in such film and television programs as Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, Fox’s Empire, and HBO’s Rome.

The cast for Turandot also includes soprano Christine Goerke in the title role; sopranos Eleonora Buratto and Gabriella Reyes as Liù; and bass-baritone James Morris as Timur. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Marco Armiliato share conducting duties.

Performances of Turandot begin on October 3, 2019, and run through April 25, 2020. Turandot will be transmitted live to cinemas around the world on Saturday, October 12, as part of The Met: Live in HD series.

For further information, please visit metopera.org.