21 July 2010
Director Peter Stein Withdraws from Upcoming Met Production of Boris Godunov
German director Peter Stein has withdrawn from the Metropolitan Opera's upcoming new production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov for personal reasons, the company announced today.
Stein, whose twelve-hour Italian-language adaptation of Dostoevsky's The Demons played in performances on Governor's Island this month as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, was to have made his Metropolitan Opera debut.
Stephen Wadsworth, who made his Met debut staging Handel's Rodelinda for the company during 2004-2005 season, has been tapped to replace Stein.
Wadsworth, head of dramatic studies for the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, is also slated to direct this season's Met performances of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, which take the stage in a revival of his 2007 production.
The Met's staging of Boris Godunov opens on Monday, October 11, with subsequent performances scheduled for October 15, 18, 23 mat., 25, 30 mat., March 9, 12 and 17. The October 23 performance will be transmitted to movie theaters around the world as part of the company's Live in HD initiative.
Conducted by Valery Gergiev, the performances will feature René Pape in the title role, Ekaterina Semenchuk as Marina, Aleksandrs Antonenko as Grigory, Oleg Balashov's Shuisky, Evgeny Nikitin as Rangoni, Mikhail Petrenko as Pimin and Vladimir Ognovenko in the role of Varlaam. The production team includes set designer Ferdinand Wögerbauer, costumer Moidele Bickel and lighting designer Duane Schuler. 
More information can be found at The Metropolitan Opera.
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