Zurich Opera's administrative director Otto Grosskopf has revealed that Jonas Kaufmann's illness earlier in the season cost the house 300,000 Swiss francs (around £200,000), leaving it barely scraping even over the year as a whole.
Kaufmann cancelled two sold-out gala concerts in May at short notice, forcing then-Intendant Alexander Pereira to scramble for replacements. If he hadn't been able to persuade Edita Gruberova and Leo Nucci to step in, then the overall loss would have been an even bigger 800,000 francs (over half a million pounds) - a significant dent in the 134 million franc annual budget.
"This shows just how much we depend on stars," Grosskopf said.
