This weekend sees the opening of Bayerische Staatsoper’s new production of War and Peace, which brings a variety of debuts for six Askonas Holt artists. Andrey Zhilikhovsky returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper in a role debut as Andrej Bolkonski. He most recently performed in Munich last May when he joined the opera house as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia. In between, Andrey sang Don Alvaro in Il viaggio a Reims and made his Royal Opera House debut as Marcello in La bohème. Also returning is Victoria Karkacheva who sings Hélène Besuchowa. Victoria is back in Munich next month for La traviata, and sings a variety of principal roles in new productions there in 2023-24. Next season also includes debuts for Victoria at Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid and Teatro di San Carlo. Making his Bayerische Staatsoper debut is Bekhzod Davronov, who also makes a role debut as Anatol Kuragin. This season sees Bekhzod sing Verdi Requiem with Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias, Bruckner’s Te Deum with Radio Filharmonisch Orkest conducted by Vasily Petrenko and a production of Janáček’s From the House of the Dead at Ruhrtriennale Festival of the Arts. Further ahead, Bekhzod makes debuts at the Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Teatro di San Carlo and the Irish National Opera. Christina Bock also makes both house and role debuts this weekend as Marja Bolkonskaja. Earlier this year Christina joined Staatsoper Wien for L’Orfeo, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, and Die Fledermaus, and will appear later this season in Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro de la Maestranza and Die Fledermaus at Opera Royal de Wallonie. On the concert stage, Christina joins NDR Radiophilharmonie singing Mahler Symphony No.8 alongside Askonas Holt bass Mikhail Petrenko. Also joining the cast for both house and role debuts are Dmitry Cheblykov and Nikita Volkov singing Denissow and Tichon Schtscherbaty respectively. Nikita is in his first season as a member of the opera studio at Bayerische Staatsoper, and next month sees Dmitry appear in a new production of The Idiot at the Theater an der Wien. The production runs until 18 March and returns for two additional performances as part of the Opernfestspiele in July. The premiere on 5 March will be broadcast as a livestream on STAATSOPER.TV, on BR-Klassik and arte.tv/opera.