Juan Diego Flórez has canceled the Dec. 26, 2019 performance of Verdi’s “La Traviata.”

The Metropolitan Opera announced that due to illness, the Peruvian tenor will not be able to perform the Verdi opera. As a result, Stephen Costello will replace him.

Costello is already set to perform the April performances of “La Traviata” at the Met alongside Anita Hartig and Plácido Domingo. Costello recently performed “La Bohème” at the Semperoper Dresden and is set to take on “La Traviata” at the Hamburg State Opera. The tenor is coming off a role debut at the Dallas Opera and releasing his first solo CD for Delos.

Flórez returns for the final performance on Dec. 29, 2019. Regarding his performance in the role of Alfredo, OperaWire’s review noted that the tenor “ultimately managed a successful portrait of Alfredo as an impetuous young man.”

Costello joins Diana Damrau and Quinn Kelsey in Wednesday’s performance. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the performance of Michael Mayer’s new production.