Gheorghiu pulls out (again)

It always sounded too strange to be true. Angela Gheorghiu, the opera world's most notorious canceller, filling in for Anna Netrebko, holder of the #2 position?

Now Gheorghiu announces via Facebook that she's not going to replace Netrebko in the Baden Baden Faust this summer after all. It seems she forgot her principles when she agreed to the gig: 

"I am very sorry to have to turn down the offer from the Baden-Baden-Festspielhaus to perform in Faust in June this year. It has always been one of my principles not to sing in a new production that has not been conceived from the very beginning for me. It is also rather unusual for me to have to replace another singer. Nevertheless, I have tried to make it possible and to be available for the whole period but unfortunately I have not been successful in doing this."

Baden Baden, it appears, have not yet been told.

Comments

[Siggy]

What a bizarre statement - although perhaps par for the course. Why agree in the first place? It sounds as though she has taken one look at the production and changed her mind.

[John]

Quite. So is she unavailable for the whole run or does she not like the production? Make up your mind! Good luck, Baden Baden.

[sub_opera]

Propriety, decency and IM's vetoing powers prevent me from expressing an opinion on this.

Siggy has been very restrained indeed in saying the cancellation statement was 'bizarre'.

I hope the ROH is monitoring Ms Gheorghiu's increasingly vulgar tantrums.

[John]

At this stage she isn't turning down their offer, she's going back on an agreement she's already made, 2 months before it opens. Very selfish behaviour, so I hope they release an appropriately pithy response to her withdrawal.

[manou]

In other cancellations, it seems that Gheorghiu's Liceu concert on 28 April (with Pirgu) will no longer take place - although it seems the one on the 25th is still going ahead

"The concert on 28 April has been canceled due to unexpected personal reasons"

Maybe they will be expected on the 25th?

There was also her amazing outburst on France Classique when she was interviewed live during the intermission of the live broadcast of the Paris Opera Bohème. Did anyone else hear her?

She does seem to be very fragile and probably unwell - I feel sorry for her.

[Renata P.]

Human, all too human: probably when she signed she got enticed by the money offered, but as the time went by she realized all the extra-work needed to re-learn a role she hasn't sung since 2011...

She certainly knows how to infuriate others; bless you Angela and the bubble you live in!

[peter]

Good news for Baden Baden audiences, I would have thought.

[Susan]

"There was also her amazing outburst on France Classique when she was interviewed live during the intermission of the live broadcast of the Paris Opera Bohème. Did anyone else hear her?"

That was quite the tirade--she certainly caught the interviewer off guard. That Bohème was not a good night for her and she's likely feeling vulnerable as a result.

[Renata P.]

I see that in her pics from Paris she is by herself...maybe her young lover dumped her, which would explain all the strange things she did this week? (see manou's connecting the dots above)

[Emil Archambault]

What happened?

[manou]

She stormed in and started complaining bitterly about the Paris Opera and Radio Classique who had, she said "blackmailed" her in taking part in the live broadcast. She was apparently told "you sing - or you're out". She had wanted them to broadcast the previous performance, which had been recorded. She was obviously not at her best in the first half (but rallied on the last two Acts). She also spoke incoherently of being very unhappy since "the last time" (I guess in Paris 10 years before) "avec mon ex-mari". The poor interviewer could not cope with it all and ended it by suggesting Angela should go and have a rest...

As I have said before - quite sad really. And a pity as her first performance was a great success with audience and critics alike.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

The link above reminds me how amused I was by the vampire teeth marks in Intermezzo's "Draculetta" cup cake! Soooooo brilliant!

[Nikolaus Vogel]

If she's not careful, she'll end up as the Elizabeth Taylor of the opera world. And I don't mean the jewels and money.

[Faye]

"It has always been one of my principles not to sing in a new production that has not been conceived from the very beginning for me"

You've got to love her modesty. But how very ill-mannered and inconsiderate of Baden Baden to actually put on a production that wasn't specially designed for Angela in the first place :-)

[Paul Arrowsmith]

I wonder whether Gounod has been told that it was Gheorghiu for whom conceived Faust all those years ago ...

[Nik]

Is she re-marrying her ex?
***********
Intermezzo replies - No, he's just had a baby with Aleksandra Kurzak, which dramatically reduces the chances of them getting together again (and so may be part of AG's current problem).

[Graham Thomas]

When I looked at the pic I thought it was Anna - only saw it was Angela when I read the text.. Are they morphing into each other physically as well as temperamentally?

[Nikolaus Vogel]

I was thinking of late Elizabeth Taylor, post both of her marriages to Burton. The Michael Jackson era Taylor.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

Well it hasn't always been one of her principals. She was very happy to appear and re-appear in John Copley's Boheme and as I recall, the Joël Romeo et Juliette was conceived for Leontina Vaduva. The RO and Met Boccanegras? The "that wig goes on with or without Miss Gheorghiu" Carmen clearly wasn't conceived for her, either. She sings in the Munich Traviata which wasn't conceived for her either. As usual, she's talking out of her backside.

[Nik]

I think what she meant was that she doesn't want to jump into a NEW production where the originally billed lead has pulled out before the opening. She would be figureheading something that was conceived for somebody else who never actually appeared in it. Not that I'm defending her argument - after all, she DID agree to it a few weeks ago in full knowledge of the circumstances, so where were her principles then?
**************
Intermezzo replies - No, she has spoken before of her preference for productions which are "created for Angela." Nowadays she very rarely does anything that isn't.

[Emil Archambault]

Well, they didn't divorce at the time, but they did split for a few years and reunite afterwards.

[manou]

Your last sentence is not very principled - and nor is your first.

[Alexander]

... 'twas Angie who has been told about ...by Faust himself ;)

[Don Carter]

It makes a change from her singing out of it.

[JDabrowski]

Is Netrebko really the #2 "most notorious canceller"? Worse than, say, Harteros or even Kaufmann? When she cancelled some Elisirs earlier this year, it was kind of a rarity as far as the US is concerned. Maybe your perspective is a peculiarly British one?
*************
Intermezzo replies - Maybe your perspective is a peculiarly American one - are you saying that cancellations in London don't count?

She's pulled out of bookings in London, Vienna, Hamburg and Baden Baden this year - so far. In the recent past she's cancelled on La Scala and Munich (and London and Vienna x2), as well as a number of European concerts.

You may have forgotten she cancelled her Carnegie Hall recital debut - twice - too.

[JDabrowski]

I was definitely worried about this occurring on the two occasions when I heard her live, but I got to hear her in both cases. So maybe my perspective is a peculiarly individual one. :)

[yvette]

I wonder what the Baden- Baden management is going to find as a matter of excuses now...
I guess we are going to get another consolation-cancellation prize like the one Mrs Netrebko is kindly offering to the unhappy few .( like me)..... a recital on June the 10th (lower prices if you book in time!!!) . I told them I was really annoyed by this offer which to me is another business with no artistic consideration at all for people who booked for the opening night on the 6th...
When you have booked fares and tickets it is really unfair and yes it is worth not having respect anymore for such artists and opera houses managing.

[Nikolaus Vogel]

Ooops - sorry Manou. :)

[Nikolaus Vogel]

Well, Faust isn't La Voix Humaine. There are other singers in it. Any news from the Garden last night yet?

[Droopy]

Yvette, I don't understand your point at all. Business ? Non artistic considerations ?

Baden-Baden wanted to give a worthy replacement for Netrebko in order to calm and satisfy the audience. Even if you don't like her, Gheorghiu has the star-status and Marguerite is one of her signature roles. Maybe it's only business for you, and not artistic but I can't see why.
I suppose that she asked for a huge fee to replace Netrebko and that explains why the Festival couldn't offer a refund. Business again ? When many opera houses in the world are closing because of the crisis, I can understand that the others are cautious with money.
Moreover, EVEN when they refund (as when Bayerische Staatsoper refund 50% for Netrebko's cancellation of a performance of I Capuleti), some people manage to complain, arguing that it's disrespectful for other singers.

You think that the recital offered by Netrebko is business and not artistic and it annoys you because you booked for the 6th, so the 10th is too far for your timeline. I'm really sorry for you and I don't know where you live ; but it was obviously a way to satisfy Baden-Baden audience in general and not all people who booked, even if it's hard for people who travel.

When Netrebko cancelled in BB, she said that she hoped to come soon to apologize. She couldn't programm 50 dates in order to satisfy everyone and anyway Baden-Baden had all the evenings booked by other performances at that time. So they choose a matching date during the run. Too bad that it was not a good date for you.

By the way if you read carefully the mail of the Festivalhouse, you must understand that Netrebko gave up (partially ?) her fee to allow them to make these low prices (120€ instead of 210 usually). Business? Maybe.

I really can't see what the festival could have done more to deal with the difficult situation generated by Netrebko's cancellation of Faust... On the contrary, they tried to give another great singer for the audience of Faust and they give a Netrebko recital to please Netrebko-fans.
Maybe you had a better idea.

[Droopy]

I attended the dress rehearsal and Yoncheva is GREAT !!!! She has it all.
Keenlyside fantastic (especially his death scene).
Terfel is a real stage animal, but the singing goes all over the place. A beginning of vibrato and he barks more than he sings. No line.
Calleja has a superb voice. But he doesn't know how to end a phrase without abruptly stopping the sound in a awfully non musical way. He ran and tried to speed up all the tempi, not thinking that it was not music anymore.
Conducting OK in general.

[Droopy]

In 2013, Netrebko cancelled only one date : a recital in Mexico with Schrott.
So far for a "serial canceller".
But she has indeed a real problem with her London engagements.

We all have peculiar perspectives : everytime I booked for Damrau (4 times), she cancelled. I could call her a big canceller too, which she obviously is not.

[Miriam]

I had booked for the 28th and I have only just received an email from the Liceu about this. It appears that the 25th is still going ahead, they suggest that I might like to buy a ticket for that instead. Perhaps they just didn't sell enough tickets to make them think it was worth having two performances? There were still plenty of seats for the 28th when I booked, which was not very long ago.

I am not too disappointed, I am going to Barcelona for other reasons including The Invisible City of Kitezh, but as I shall be there on the 28th I thought it would be a way to pass the evening.