This week the Teatro alla Scala is set to present a new production of Donizetti’s masterpiece “Lucia di Lammermoor.” The production will bring together two of the greatest Bel canto singers of our time, Juan Diego Florez and Lisette Oropesa. It will also showcase rising star Boris Pinkhasovich.

Pinkhasovich will sing the role of the villainous Enrico. The role marks another Bel Canto role for the baritone following turns in Rossini’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia” and Donietti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore.” The opera was originally set to be his Teatro alla Scala debut, but in March the baritone jumped into a performance of “La Bohème” four hours before the show started.

Regarding his debut, the baritone told OperaWire, “It is not easy to describe all my feelings about the Teatro alla Scala! It always has been a dream and still, although we started rehearsing, I am not quite sure, if it is reality. ‘E sogno o realta’ like in the aria of Ford, from Verdi’s ‘Falstaff.’ Pure joy, honor, huge responsibility, and gratitude to the people, who believe in me and gave me this chance, and to destiny for leading me step by step on my way in arts.”

He added, ” I have enormous respect for this theatre, its history, and tradition. I feel the spirit of all the great singers and conductors, who worked here and promised from the very beginning to myself, to take this inspiration in and give my very best to be worthy of their legacy. I am so lucky to be on this production with wonderful, prominent colleagues Lisette Oropesa and Juan Diego Flórez and of course such outstanding Maestro, as Riccardo Chailly, with all his wisdom, and enormous musical expertise, as well as fantastic director Yannis Kokkos.”

For those not in Milan for the momentous debut, Pinkhasovich is set to perform in “Madama Butterfly” at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Recordings

For those unfamiliar with Pinkhasovich’s artistry, check out the recordings of Gounod’s “Le Tribut De Zamora” and Eduard Lalo & Arthur Coquard’s “La Jacquerie.” He is also set to record five CDs for Naxos with works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Glinka, Rimsky–Korsakov and Mussorgsky.

Here he is singing an aria from “The Queen of Spades” and from “Falstaff.”