Thursday, January 10, 2019

Cast Changes, Opéra National de Paris

Previously:

Bryan Hymel withdrew from the first several performances of Les Troyens, which will be sung by Brandon Jovanovich.

Now (January 3, 2019):
  • Elīna Garanča has withdrawn from Les Troyens, in which she was to sing Didon. Ekaterina Semenchuk replaces her. Update, January 10: This is owing to illness.
  • To sing Didon, Semenchuk has withdrawn from Rusalka, in which she was to sing Jezibaba. She is replaced by Michelle De Young.
Apparently I will never see Garanča: she was scheduled to sing Charlotte in Werther at San Francisco Opera some years ago, but canceled in order to make a European concert tour, which resulted in a complaint against her filed with AGMA.

Now (January 10, 2019 update): Brandon Jovanovich will sing Enée in all performances of Les Troyens. Bryan Hymel's withdrawal is owing to family reasons.

8 comments:

CruzSF said...

I believe you wondered aloud if Hymel would withdraw. Does this news affect the performance you're attending?

On Garanča, I was sure I'd seen her live, but now reviewing my opera history, I realize I haven't. I've seen her once, in the Met HD broadcast of Carmen. (I've heard her quite a few times, and have recordings by her.)

Lisa Hirsch said...

I published the news about Hymel and Jovanovich in November. Yes, this does affect me: I can see Jovanich on Feb. 3 or buy a ticket to Hymel's first scheduled program and cross my fingers.

David Gockley was, ah, very firm about Garanca's SF cancellation. I doubt she will be offered a contract here.

CruzSF said...

How did the complaint with AGMA get resolved?

If I must travel to Europe to see her live, or even to NYC, I'm willing to do that, though there are others ahead of her in my priority list.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Settlement in favor of SFO. Here's my blog post at the time:

Garanca Out, Coote In

CruzSF said...

Thanks for the pointer to the blog post. I agree with you now: she'll probably not be asked back, at least not while she's in her prime.

On other note: has it really been nearly 10 years since that Werther? Coote was the best thing about that run. I hated the opera but liked Coote very much.

Lisa Hirsch said...

It really has been almost ten years.

I was surprised by the extent to which I liked the opera. Coote is a wonderful singer and that was her last appearance here. Wish they'd get her back for something.

Mike A. said...

Now Hymel withdrew completely from Les Troyens!

Lisa Hirsch said...

Not....a surprise. I'm going to update this post and push it to the top of the blog.