Tenor Russell Thomas, who made a big impression here in John Adams' A Flowering Tree in 2007, has replaced Marco Berti as Pollione in San Francisco Opera's current production of Bellini's Norma.
The company announcement said Berti "has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons."
As the assigned cover (understudy) for the role, Thomas has been part of the rehearsal process for the production since rehearsals began in August.
This summer, Thomas performed with Jamie Barton (the acclaimed Adalgisa in the Metropolitan Opera’s outdoor summer concert series. The New York Times said of the performance:
[Thomas’ voice was its robust, bronzed best in arias from Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Verdi’s Macbeth. He was a committed, attentive partner... to Ms. Barton in [duets] from Norma and Verdi’s Il Trovatore.The Norma selections were a reminder of Ms. Barton’s triumph in that opera at the Met last season. On Monday, as then, her focus and plummy tone were extraordinary, and she blasted both high notes and lusty deep passages.
The current cast is getting even more rapturous reviews than the original one, which is a lot to say.