(Credit: Rosa Frank)

The Wiener Staatsoper has announced that soprano Vera-Lotte Boecker will sing the role of Micaëla for the premiere of Bizet’s “Carmen,” replacing Olga Kulchynska.

Boecker is the second cast change in the production after Piotr Beczała took over the role of Don José replacing Charles Castronovo.

Last month there was a COVID-19 outbreak at the opera house that left several principal artists infected with the disease, forcing the theater to postpone the premiere.

Boecker will join a cast that includes Erwin Schrott in the role of Escamillo, Piotr Beczała as Don José, and Anita Rachvelishvili in the title role. The cast also includes Slávka Zámečníková, Szilvia Vörös, Peter Kellner, Martin Häßler, Carlos Osuna, and Michael Arivony. Andrés Orozco-Estrada conducts the production by Calixto Bieito.

Boecker recently performed the role of Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s “La Traviata,” and the role of Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” at the Komische Oper Berlin, among others. The soprano was also featured in the livestream of Henze’s “Das verratene Meer” at the Wiener Staatsoper. The soprano is slated to sing the role of Virtù / Drusilla in Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea” at the Wiener Staatsoper in May and June 2021.

“Carmen” will be livestreamed on Feb. 21 on the Wiener Staatsoper’s streaming platform and ORF.