Anna El-Khashem in Così fan tutte at the Verbier Festival, July 2026 / Photo: Anne du Chastel
Three major U.S companies are betting heavily this fall that the Mozart-da Ponte trio of operas will attract audiences. Grand Tier Grab Bag previews the Met’s Così fan Tutte, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Don Giovanni and San Francisco Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro by introducing (or in one case, reintroducing) their leading sopranos: Federica Lombardi, Mané Galoyan, Anna El-Khashem, and Slávka Zámečníková.
The Met revives its much reviled “Coney Island” Così on the second night of the 2026-27 season for nine performances including an HD on October 3. Lombardi, its Fiordiligi, has already performed both Donna Elvira (her Met debut in 2019) and Donna Anna, Elettra, and the Countess with the company. Her only other Met opera so far has been La bohème: after appearing as Musetta in 2021, she transitioned to Mimì in 2023, a role she performs again after the Così run with Atalla Ayan as her Rodolfo.
A highlight of Lombardi’s 2027 schedule will be her second new production of Norma, in June at the Dutch National Opera, guided by hot young director Jetske Mijnssen.
Mozart: Don Giovanni, “In quali ecessi”
Donna Elvira: Federica Lombardi
Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Wiener Staatsoper
17 January 2024
In-house
Chicago opens its season with Don Giovanni with Christian Van Horn and Kyle Ketelsen sharing the title role. With the assistance of Tomasso Barea as Leporello, they will attempt to seduce Galoyan, Nina Solodovnikova, and El-Khashem. Unfortunately, we could not uncover any recordings of Solodovnikova, the Donna Elvira. However, Armenian soprano Galoyan made her Met debut in 2017 appearing as Chloe in the Mozartian intermezzo in the second Act of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades. She didn’t return again until last fall for a short run as Musetta after she had opened Chicago’s season as Gilda.
Recent performances display her versatility in such varied roles as Micaela, Suor Angelica, and Janácek’s Vixen, in addition to Mozart’s Pamina and Vitellia which she sang for the time last year in Monte Carlo opposite Cecilia Bartoli.
Galoyan, who is married to conductor Roberto Kalb, sings Berthe in the recent noteworthy live recording of Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète with Elizabeth Deshong and John Osborn. Next year after Mimì in Seattle, she returns to Mozart for Santa Fe’s Così fan tutte aligned with the Dorabella of Samantha Hankey (who is also Lombardi’s sister at the Met).
Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, “Non più di fiori”
Mané Galoyan
Conductor: Gianluca Capuano
Monte Carlo
26 January 2025
In house
Chicago’s Zerlina, Russian soprano El-Khashem, has recently devoted most of her time to Mozart. Since early 2025, she has performed Ilia, Susanna, and Servilia.
She’s made a specialty of Silvia in Ascanio in Alba, the early Mozart festa teatrale which she has recorded for Aparté under Christophe Rousset. They’ll collaborate once again for Ascanio at the Zurich Opera in March 2027 as part of the company’s second annual festival devoted to 18th century opera.
Mozart: Così fan tutte, “In uomini, in soldati” & “Una donna a quindici anni”
Anna El-Khashem
Conductor: Gábor Takács-Nagy
Verbier Festival
18 July 2026
Broadcast
On Halloween, the San Francisco Opera revives its Le nozze di Figaro for ten performances. It welcomes back for Susanna Slovak soprano Zámečníková, who made her U.S. and company debut three years ago as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, a portrayal ecstatically acclaimed on this site by Michael Anthonio.
For the Vienna Staatsoper, her home company, Zámečníková has performed an impressively wide array of roles. Besides Servilia, Pamina, and Donna Anna, she’s been Marzelline, Micaela, Sophie (in both Der Rosenkavalier and Werther), Poppea, Norina, and Nanetta, in addition to starring last season in the company’s new production of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride (sung, of course, in German).
In January 2027, she’ll be Donna Anna in Heartbeat Opera founder Louisa Proske’s new staging of Don Giovanni at the Paris Opera with Peter Mattei again in the title role.
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, “Ach ich fühls…”
Slávka Zámečníková
Conductor: Betrand de Billy
Wiener Staatsoper
27 January 2025
In-house
