Leonardo Capalbo will make a previously unscheduled debut at the Bremen Musikfest as the title character in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.”

The festival announced that Benjamin Bernheim was forced to cancel the production due to scheduling conflicts with the Zurich Opera. As a result, Capalbo will make his debut at the festival on Sept. 1, 2018, alongside Maestro Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. The concert performance will also star soprano Jessica Pratt as the four heroines, who replaced Aleksandra Kurzak.

Capalbo has previously sung Hoffmann at L’Opéra de Lyon and in Tokyo with Maestro Kazushi Ono and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden with Maestro Evelino Pidò where he was noted for “a beautifully honeyed, lyric sound.” He recently also thrilled audiences in the title character of Massenet’s “Le Cid” at the Dorset Opera Festival and this season will perform at the Minnesota Opera, Calgary Opera, and Royal Swedish Opera.

Bernheim returns to the stage in ‘La Bohème” at the Opernhaus Zurich this September and will also return to the Royal Opera House.