Giuseppe Filianoti replaces Rolando as Nemorino at the LA opera in September

Filianoti to Replace Villazón in Los Angeles Opera

On the heels of the tenor Rolando Villazón’s announcement that he would withdraw from performing until at least the end of the year to undergo surgery on his vocal cords, the Los Angeles Opera said that it had cast Giuseppe Filianoti to replace Mr. Villazón in its season-opening production of Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore.” In a news release, the opera said that Mr. Filianoti would sing the role of Nemorino in the production, which is scheduled to run from Sept. 12 through Sept. 30. On Wednesday, Mr. Villazón’s managers said that the tenor needed surgery as soon as possible to remove a cyst from his vocal cords. A coming run of Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann,” scheduled to start at the Metropolitan Opera in December, was among the productions affected; the Met has not yet named a replacement for Mr. Villazón.