(Credit: © Klaus Frahm)

The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor will take over the role of Erda in Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” for the performance on Jan. 4, 2022, replacing Judit Kutasi.

Taylor joins a cast that includes Derek Welton, Joel Allison, Attilio Glaser, Thomas Blondelle, Markus Brück, Ya-Chung Huang, Andrew Harris, Tobias Kehrer, Annika Schlicht, Flurina Stucki, Valeriia Savinskaia, Irene Roberts, and Karis Tucker. Sir Donald Runnicles conducts a production by Stefan Herheim, with set design by Silke Bauer.

Additionally, mezzo-soprano Marina Prudenskaja will replace Kutasi in the role of Erda in “Siegfried” on Jan. 7, 2022. Prudenskaja joins a cast that includes Ya-Chung Huang, Iain Paterson, Jordan Shanahan, Tobias Kehrer, Ninna Stemme, and Clay Hilley in the title role. Sir Donald Runnicles conducts a production by Stefan Herheim.

Kutasi is scheduled to return to the stage in the role of La Cieca in Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda” at the Teatro alla Scala in June 2022.