Jonas Kaufmann/Met

[bostonman]

My first time at the Met was when I was a high school student, to see the original run of their Mahagonny with Stratas (I had seen the TV broadcast, which was my intro to the world of Weill/Brecht, and I was hooked) - and lo and behold Stratas cancelled that night. But I was still glad to see Ariel Bybee in her place.

 

It took them forever to release that broadcast commercially, but they finally did, a few years ago. Very worth seeing.

[MrMiniver]

Perhaps it is because you apparently know all the theater and opera people whom you wright about here. With the exception of Mary Martin, Elaine Stritch and Audra McDonald, I have never met any of these people. So I am using the word "like" as a general term that applies to the person and/or his or her possible professional flaws.

 

It's an incorrect usage of the term.

[MscleLovr]

I've seen Jonas Kaufmann many times, starting with his debut recital. He has a glorious voice, acts well and looks good but I prefer to hear him sing in recital.

 

What puzzled me about his cancellation at the Met for 'Manon Lescaut' was that the New York Times reported (in their various recent articles detailing how Roberto Alagna had stood in) that Kaufmann's illness was "unspecified" to the Met. I've no way of knowing whether that description is accurate but I thought that if it was not, the Met or the artist's management company would have demanded a correction.

 

For those that would like to see and hear Jonas Kaufmann in recital and a master-class, tickets are on-sale now for Kaufmann's residency at the Barbican Hall in London in early February 2017 http://www.barbican.org.uk/classical1617/season-highlights/the-kaufmann-residency

[+ WilliamM]

It's an incorrect usage of the term.

 

I agree.

[+ Charlie]

I was lucky to see both Stratas and Caballe early in their careers, before all the cancellations started. The first time I saw Stratas was as Nedda, the first time I saw Caballe was in Il Pirata, and both were sensational. But they did cancel a lot later, and I saw many substitutes, including Te Kanawa's Desdemona, which didn't impress me as much as it did the critics (though I had seen her earlier in London as Amelia in Boccanegra, which was a perfect role for her).

 

The worst cancellation for me, however, was of an entire performance. It was the only time I ever had tickets at the Palais Garnier, and we arrived to find the doors closed: the stagehands had gone on strike for one night.