**

Gheorghiu was initially scheduled to open the production Dec. 31 and perform the first six shows. She withdrew in August and was replaced by Elīna Garanča.

Gheorghiu issued the following statement: "To make so important a debut as Carmen, I want to be as prepared dramatically as I am musically. Therefore, I will postpone my role debut until a later date when I can work intensely with the Richard Eyre production."

Gheorghiu will appear as scheduled in her portrayal of Violetta in La Traviata beginning March 29.

Aldrich made her Met debut as Maddalena in Rigoletto in 2006. She has sung Carmen at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the Deutsche Opera in Berlin and is scheduled to sing it later this year in Pittsburgh and Chicago. The American mezzo-soprano has sung at many other leading opera houses and festivals, including the San Francisco Opera, Salzburg Festival, Hamburg State Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Washington National Opera. She makes her La Scala debut as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia later this year.

Carmen, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, also stars Jonas Kaufmann as Don Jos_, Maija Kovalevska as MicaêŠla, and Mariusz Kwiecien as Escamillo. The production is by Richard Eyre.

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