(Credit: Suzanne Vinnik)

Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that the American heldentenor Clay Hilley will perform the title role in Wagner’s “Siegfried,” replacing Simon O’Neill.

Hilley will join a cast that includes Iain Paterson in the role of Der Wanderer, Nina Stemme as Brünnhilde, Markus Brück in the role of Alberich, Tobias Kehrer as Fafner, Lindsay Ammann as Erda, and Ya-Chung Huang in the role of Mime.

Deutsche Oper General Music Director Sir Donald Runnicles will conduct the Deutsche Oper Berlin orchestra in the production by Stefan Herheim.

Herheim’s production of “Siegfried” is a part of “Der Ring des Nibelungen” cycle at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. The opera house succeeded in premiering “Die Walküre” on Sep. 27, 2020 for a total of five performances. The run ended in October 2020, and the Deutsche Oper Berlin closed when the German federal government declared a lockdown due to the soaring number of COVID-19 cases.

German federal government and Prime Ministers of German federal states have extended the vast majority of lockdown measures in Germany until March 28, 2021. The Deutsche Oper Berlin will live stream Zandonai’s opera “Francesca da Rimini” on March 14, 2021.

The premiere of “Siegfried” is scheduled for April 18, 2021.