Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey will make her Met role debut singing Octavian in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, replacing Isabel Leonard, who has withdrawn.
Hankey performed Octavian at the Bavarian State Opera in 2021 and 2022. Recent career highlights also include Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Bavarian State Opera, Federico García Lorca in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar at Scottish Opera, the Composer in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina at the Glyndebourne Festival, and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera and Zurich Opera House, as well as a recital at Wigmore Hall. She made her Met debut singing Pantalis in Boito’s Mefistofele in 2018 and most recently performed the role of Prince Charming in Massenet’s Cinderella in 2021. Other Met highlights also include Mercédès in Bizet’s Carmen, Dangeville in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, Countess Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Wellgunde in Wagner’s Ring cycle. She was a winner in the Met’s Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly National Council Auditions) in 2017. Later this season, she is scheduled to make her Carnegie Hall debut giving a solo recital and appear as Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at Palm Beach Opera and Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at the Santa Fe Opera.
Der Rosenkavalier opens on March 27 with soprano Lise Davidsen as the Marschallin, soprano Erin Morley as Sophie, mezzo-soprano Katharine Goeldner as Annina, tenor René Barbera as the Italian Singer, tenor Thomas Ebenstein as Valzacchi, baritone Markus Brück as Faninal, and bass Günther Groissböck as Baron Ochs. Simone Young conducts Robert Carsen’s production.
Additional performances are March 31 and April 4,7,11, 15 (matinee), and 20.
For more information, visit metopera.org.
