Noteworthy & Now

1  Thomas Guggeis is on the podium at the Met this month for François Girard’s staging of Der Fliegende Holländer (May 30–Jun. 10). Guggeis makes his company debut pacing a cast that stars Tomasz Konieczny in the title role alongside Elza van den Heever as Senta. In July, the German maestro makes his Santa Fe Opera debut conducting David Alden’s new production of Holländer.

2  Gabriella Reyes makes her Washington National Opera debut as Mimì in Jo Davies’s production of La Bohème (May 13–27). The Nicaraguan–American soprano is joined by Migran Agadzhanyan (Rodolfo), Gihoon Kim (Marcello), Jacqueline Echols (Musetta), Blake Denson (Schaunard) and Peixin Chen (Colline); Alevtina Ioffe conducts.

3  Sabine Devieilhe is Soeur Constance in the Vienna State Opera production of Dialogues des Carmélites (May 21–Jun 2). Magdalena Fuchsberger’s new staging also stars Nicole Car (Blanche de la Force), Eve-Maud Hubeaux (Mère Marie) and Michaela Schuster (Madame de Croissy); Bertrand de Billy is on the podium.

4  On May 27, Ryan McKinny brings the three-city tour of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s For a Look or a Touch to its last stop at Chicago Opera Theatre. McKinny (Manfred) and actor Curt Branom (Gad Beck) make their house debuts in a double bill that also includes Heggie and Scheer’s Another Sunrise. Both Music of Remembrance commissions honor Holocaust survival stories.

5  Jeanine De Bique makes a role and house debut this month singing Isabel in Evgeny Titov’s staging of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at Zurich Opera (May 21–Jun. 11). Ilan Volkov conducts a cast that also stars Lauri Vasar as the King. This summer, the Trinidad-born soprano returns to the Salzburg Festival as Teculihuatzin/Dona Luisa in a concert version of Peter Sellars’s production of Purcell’s Indian Queen.

6  We Shall Not Be Moved, with music by Daniel Bernard Roumain and libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, receives its Pittsburgh Opera premiere this month (May 13–21). Tony Award-winner and Kennedy Center Honoree Bill T. Jones is the director and choreographer. Viswa Subbaraman paces a cast that includes John Holiday (John Blue) and Kirstin Chávez (Glenda); all four make company debuts.

8  Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Olga Syniakova sings Zaida in the Teatro Real Madrid premiere of Laurent Pelly’s production of Il Turco in Italia (May 31–Jun. 12). Lisette Oropesa and Sara Blanch alternate the role of Fiorilla, with Alex Esposito and Adrian Sâmpetrean taking on the role of Selim; Giacomo Sagripanti conducts.

9  This month, Rame Lahaj makes his company debut at Seattle Opera as Alfredo in
La Traviata (May 6–21). He is joined by South African soprano Vuvu Mpofu, also making her house debut, as Violetta. In June, the Kosovar tenor is Pinkerton in Damiano Michieletto’s production of Madama Butterfly at Teatro
Regio Torino.

7  This month, Julian Prégardien is the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem at Teatro di San Carlo under the baton of Raphaël Pichon; both make house debuts (May 16–20). In June, the tenor’s recital program “Prégardien sings Handel” tours Switzerland and Germany with conductor Andrea Marcon and La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel as part of this year’s Handel Festival.