(Credit: Vincent Pontet/ ONP)

Audiences that went to check out Verdi’s “Don Carlo” at the Opéra de Paris this Friday on opening night wound up seeing two tenors in the leading role.

Roberto Alagna was one of the star attractions of the production as he was set to appear in the famed opera alongside his wife Aleksandra Kursak. But Alagna, who was suffering from illness could not make it past the second act of the opera and was promptly replaced by Spanish tenor Sergio Escobar, in his Parisian debut. Escobar has previously essayed the role of the Verdi hero at Las Palmas and most recently at the Teatro Real de Madrid, among others.

Alagna is still slated to perform the title role through Nov. 11, 2019. Starting on Nov. 14, 2019, Parisian audiences will get a chance to hear Michael Fabiano in the lead role.

The cast for “Don Carlo” stars Étienne Dupuis as Rodrigo, Vitalij Kowaljow as the Grand Inquisitor, René Pape as King Phillip II, Anita Rachvelishvili as Eboli, and Kursak alternating with Nicole Car as Elisabetta. Fabio Luisi conducts the production by Krzysztof Warlikowski.