....what I was saying here just a couple of weeks ago about opera stars canceling or being replaced for other reasons close to the scheduled performance? Well, there was big news on Thursday apropos that very topic. A press release from the Met announced the replacement of two artists on account of, individually, laryngitis and a knee injury. La Cieca who while not always spot on the money seems to have excellent sources at the Met (yes, gentle reader, even better than Operaman's!) says: "Apparently sometimes opera companies choose to use terminology like “laryngitis” and “knee injury” in order to avoid having to say “exhibited bizarre behavior at rehearsals” or “arrived obviously unprepared.”

First, Christine Brewer has withdrawn from her role as Brünnhilde in the Met's Ring Cycle series due to begin on April 6th "due to a knee injury that prevents her performing the staging." (Met press release). So with less than two weeks to curtain up a new singer has had to be drafted - Iréne Theorin for the first cycle. There is also some suggestion that Brewer isn't well-liked at the Met by some and for that reason when in difficulty she wasn't getting much support or sympathy. The world of opera being what it is I wouldn't place too much reliance on that particular aspect. Be that as it may, bad knee or bad behaviour? The truth tends to find its way out eventually but all we know at the moment is that if you paid good money expecting to see Ms. Brewer sing Wagner at the Met in April you may want to try to unload your ticket on Stubhub or the like.

The other item to report is one I am very sad about. Rolando Villazón has withdrawn from singing the role of Nemorino in the first two performances of the upcoming production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore - also at the Met. Look for an announcement of his withdrawal from the later performances in the fullness of time. Regular readers will know last month I wrote about RV and how he was pulled from the January performances of Lucia di Lammermoor. This makes him three for three in the cancellation stakes in his last three productions at the Met. When I last wrote about it I was fearing even then that he wasn't going to make it for Elisir and sadly that has proved to be the case. Whatever may be used as an excuse this is not some bout of laryngitis. There is little if any doubt in my mind that this is a repeat of the vocal and psychological melt-down that struck him two seasons ago and caused his temporary withdrawal from singing opera. And I am afraid that it spells the end of his career at the Met and, I suspect, other major houses. I say this for two reasons. Firstly, I don't believe General Directors of major houses here or in Europe will take any further risks on his appearing and singing in good health. Additionally it is clear that he needs a total vocal re-build. He has been singing the wrong repertoire (Verdi etc.) for way too long in an attempt to imitate Plácido Domingo and I am told he is very stubborn in his attitude to his voice coaches, thinking he knows best. It looks as though this is the case of hubris and bad management bringing about the early vocal demise of what was at the beginning a sweet instrument. That really is too bad.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that it is the current position of both the Met management and RV that he is going to sit out only the first two performances of Elisir and expects to be back on stage on April 8th. Suuuure. If he is that will make Tiger Woods' comeback from five shots down to win this last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational positively pedestrian. I take no pleasure in saying this but this talk of RV being there for the remainder of the run of Elisir is either a flat-out lie for the purposes of keeping up ticket sales for the later performances of this production or it is a staggering example of self-delusion by all parties concerned. It could happen, of course, but if I were you I wouldn't risk a dollar on that eventuality. More likely, in a year or two you may begin looking for Villazón at an arena near you where he will be in concert with Paulo 'The Insurance' Potts and Andrea Bocelli.

Which brings me to this. You remember The Three Tenors? And then there were Three Mo' Tenors? Now there are The Ten Tenors! Do I hear any advance on ten? How about a Whole Busload of Tenors Tour?

The Met's current Ring Cycle opened the other night with Siegfried. My unfamiliarity with this work precludes me from telling you whether or not this was a great performance but I must say that I found it most engaging. There was screaming. And hammer clanging. And some pretty spooky music. And some jaw-dropping stuff from characters I took to be Rhine Maidens (I didn't have even a synopsis before me but was listening while doing other things around my apartment). One day soon I really am going to have to bite the bullet and go to see a complete Ring.

In local news, Portland State University School of Fine and Performing Arts will be presenting Verdi's final great masterpiece Falstaff beginning April 13th. Since engaging the services of Tito Capobianco as director and Distinguished Professor of Opera the University has had great success with productions of both La Boheme and Cosi fan Tutte. For Falstaff, the group has been very fortunate to secure the services of Richard Zeller to sing the name role. This will make quite a change for Zeller who was last seen here as the quasi-villainous Germont in Portland Opera's La Traviata. I have never seen Zeller in a comic role but I am guessing that Falstaff will suit him right down to the ground in terms of his voice, his acting acumen and of course his imposing size! I shall be attending the final dress rehearsal and then a performance and I will let you know how it goes. You may read all about this production and purchase tickets here.

In the meantime here is a clip from the 1976 Glyndebourne production with Ben Luxon as Falstaff.

Have a great week!