(Credit: Staatsoper Unter den Linden official website)

The Teatro alla Scala has announced that bass Ildar Abdrazakov will not be appearing in the role of Banquo in the final performance of Verdi’s “Macbeth” scheduled for Dec. 29, 2021.

No reason has been given for the cast change.

As a result, South Korean bass Jongmin Park will take over the role. Park joins a cast that includes Ekaterina Semenchuk as Lady Macbeth, Francesco Meli as Macduff, Iván Ayón Rivas as Malcolm, and Luca Salsi in the title role. The cast also includes Chiara Isotton, Andrea Pellegrini, Leonardo Galeazzi, and Alberto Rota.

Teatro alla Scala’s Music Director Riccardo Chailly conducts the Teatro alla Scala’s Orchestra and Chorus in a production by Davide Livermore.

Park is a well-known bass who has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Teatro Real, Arena di Verona, and Bergen National Opera, among others.

Abdrazakov is scheduled to return to the stage for performances of Rossini’s “Il Turco in Italia” at the Opéra di Monte-Carlo in January 2022.