Singers cancel. It happens. But despite recent promises made by the Director of Opera, the Royal Opera House is still infuriating customers with the way it handles the problem.
The audience for this evening's Otello weren't told in advance that Anja Harteros had pulled out. Only those who regularly check the news section of the ROH website or its Twitter feed would have discovered - some time after the ROH themselves were informed, incidentally.
I cottoned on when I started getting emails like this earlier today (and these are the politer ones):
"Just checking on ROH website for this evening’s Otello, prior to setting out, only to discover that Harteros has just cancelled. I am aware that there are serious problems in the background for Harteros, but I really am sick to death of these singers cancelling. At the prices we are asked to pay, it just will not do. I am absolutely furious." - Graham
"unbelievable... ROH virtually never have the advertised singers, but no refunds of course!" - Neil
Room for improvement?
