(Credit: Andrey Uspensky)

Opéra National de Paris has announced that mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina will perform the role of Rosina in Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” for the performances between May 30 – June 10, 2022.

Akhmetshina joins a cast that includes René Barbera in the role of Count Almaviva, Renato Girolami as Bartolo, Alex Esposito as Don Basilio, Katherine Broderick as Berta, Aaron Pendleton as Fiorello, and Andrzej Filończyk in the title role. Roberto Abbado conducts a production by Damiano Michieletto.

Akhmetshina is a young and fast-rising mezzo-soprano who has already appeared on the major opera stages such as the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Staatsoper Hamburg, among others.

The mezzo-soprano is slated to perform the role of Polina in Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus and Berliner Philharmoniker in April 2022, before taking on Lola in Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in July 2022. Her future engagements include debuts at the Metropolitan Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Dutch National Opera.