THE CASTS.(Metropolitan Opera broadcast performances of April 2001)

Soprano Olga Guryakova (Pauline), heard earlier this year as Natasha in Paris's War and Peace and in her native Moscow as Rosalinde in Fledermaus, makes her Met debut in The Gambler. She next returns to Moscow as Pauline, then has a June concert in Amsterdam before singing Tatyana in Berlin's Onegin.

Elena Obraztsova (Grandma) began the year touring North America with Moscow's Viktyuk Theatre in a drama titled Antonio for Elba. The mezzo, who bowed at the Met as Amneris in Aida in 1976, sings concerts in Barcelona, Madrid and Majorca in spring, then divides her summer between concert/masterclass pairings in Portugal, Tokyo and Valencia and recording sessions as La Cieca in Gioconda.

Rubskov, Russia native Vladimir Galouzine (Alexei) recently sang Cavaradossi in Tosca at Covent Garden. The tenor, who made his Met debut as Sergei in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in 1994, returns to London as Gherman in Queen or Spades next month, then sings Radames in Aida in Bologna, Orange and Santander.

Versatile character tenor Nikolai Gassiev (Marquis) bowed at the Met as Missail in Boris Godunov in 1997. The native of Tzkhinvali, Ossetia, is a principal artist with the Mariinsky Theatre. He was heard in Amsterdam last fall in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta at the Concertgebouw.

John Fanning (Mr. Astley), who hails from Barrie, Canada, sang Faninal in fall 2000 Rosenkavaliers at the Met, then was Jack Rance in Toronto's Fanciulla del West earlier this year. The baritone, first heard at the Met in 1999 as Monterone in Rigoletto, sings Balstrode in Peter Grimes in Montreal in August.

Met debutant Sergei Alexashkin (General), a native of Saratov, Russia, has been a member of the Mariinsky Theatre since 1989. Last fall, the bass took part in Concertgebouw performances of Iolanta in Amsterdam and sang Count Rostov in War and Peace in Milan.

Met principal guest conductor Valery Gergiev (The Gambler) bowed with the company with Otello in 1994. The Moscow native led Met Fliegende Hollanders in the fall and last month conducted Ballo in Parma. The artistic director of the Mariinsky Opera takes on Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Salzburg this summer.