(Credit: © Franz Neumayr)

The Opéra de Paris has announced a cast change for its first performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”

The company noted that Anna El-Khashem has canceled the performance on Feb. 1 after testing positive for COVID-19. As a result, Christina Gansch will sing the role of Zerlina.

Gansch has performed at the Royal Opera House, Salzburg Festival, San Francisco Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opéra National de Paris, and Berlin State Opera. Her repertoire includes Debussy, Beethoven, Humerperdinck, Handel, and Mozart.

The soprano will join a cast that includes Christian Van Horn, Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Adela Zaharia, Pavel Petrov, Nicole Car, Krzysztof Bączyk, and Mikhail Timoshenko. Bertrand de Billy conducts.

El Khashem is set to return to the production for the second performance on Feb. 4, 2022.