missing a soprano at the Vienna State Opera (Tosca)

[zamyrabyrd]

(I realized the Gheorgiu thread might not be eye-catching enough, a pity to miss the fun.)
This is just too hilarious to be true - "living opera" (posted on two sites):

http://slippedisc.com/2016/04/watch-angela-gheorghiu-misses-cue-keeps-kaufmann-waiting-on-vienna-stage/

Kaufmann got to sing "lucevan le stelle" twice with some lengthy applause. Meanwhile, Tosca got lost in the wings.

The video clip originally comes from La Stampa: "We don't have a soprano!"

http://www.lastampa.it/2016/04/18/spettacoli/a-vienna-lopera-inizia-senza-il-soprano-risate-commenti-e-imbarazzo-in-sala-OrgtJc1n0lHSzhGgZJ5tRK/pagina.html

A Vienna "Tosca" inizia senza Tosca. Risate, commenti e imbarazzo in sala
È successo alla Staatsoper. E il tenore canta: "Non abbiamo il soprano"

[jochanaan]

"The soprano does not come"?  That's too good!  Do you suppose her name was in too small a font?!

[zamyrabyrd]

"The soprano does not come"?  That's too good!  Do you suppose her name was in too small a font?!

No, she was probably miffed at the long applause after the bis of "lucevan le stelle".

"Non abbiamo soprano" (We don't have a soprano) will probably go down in operatic history as "When does the next swan leave?" said by Leo Slezak in Lohengrin when a stage hand sent it out too early and retracted it:  "Wann fährt der nächste Schwan?"

[Scion7]

 

[zamyrabyrd]

The "Pav" also missed an entrance in Aida once. He tells about it in his charming, endearing way:
https://www.youtube.com/v/9zjrgbCaC1U

[jochanaan]

No, she was probably miffed at the long applause after the bis of "lucevan le stelle".

"Non abbiamo soprano" (We don't have a soprano) will probably go down in operatic history as "When does the next swan leave?" said by Leo Slezak in Lohengrin when a stage hand sent it out too early and retracted it:  "Wann fährt der nächste Schwan?"

Yes, I suspect it will be remembered long after the names of the two singers are forgotten.

[zamyrabyrd]

Yes, I suspect it will be remembered long after the names of the two singers are forgotten.

Incidents like these are the spice of music making. I liked hearing Pavarotti's gentle sense of humor in recounting missing his entrance in Aida. He was not informed in time that the opera was starting a half hour earlier. There could not have been such a mistake on Angela's part however.

Callas' walking out after the 2nd act of Norma in Rome in 1958 was considered anything but funny. Someone told her she should have faked a fainting fit, so as to attract sympathy rather than hatred from the public.

[Wendell_E]

Callas' walking out after the 2nd act of Norma in Rome in 1958 was considered anything but funny. Someone told her she should have faked a fainting fit, so as to attract sympathy rather than hatred from the public.

No need to "fake" anything.  She was actually ill.  She eventually won a lawsuit against the Rome Opera over the event, but it took 13 years.

[zamyrabyrd]

No need to "fake" anything.  She was actually ill.  She eventually won a lawsuit against the Rome Opera over the event, but it took 13 years.

The public can't take the truth. They went for their fantasies to be gratified. If it were an audience of just plebs, they would have gone home quietly and got a refund. But the cream of society was there and couldn't stand this piece of "lèse majesté" that galled them to no end. The mob joined in with actual defacement of the Meneghini's property. They love for upstarts to be brought down. "Fainting" might have solved the problem.

[Wendell_E]

The public can't take the truth. They went for their fantasies to be gratified. If it were an audience of just plebs, they would have gone home quietly and got a refund. But the cream of society was there and couldn't stand this piece of "lèse majesté" that galled them to no end. The mob joined in with actual defacement of the Meneghini's property. They love for upstarts to be brought down. "Fainting" might have solved the problem.

I don't see how the public couldn't take the truth that she was ill, but would swallow the lie that she fainted.

[kishnevi]

I don't see how the public couldn't take the truth that she was ill, but would swallow the lie that she fainted.

Because they were used to star singers backing out at the last minute with the claim they were ill,  and accompanying rumors that the singer merely did not want to perform for one reason or another.
Jon Vickers had that rumor attached to him, with the rumor asserting he pulled the ploy simply to avoid singing in lesser venues.  The one time I was supposed to see him, in Atlanta, he withdrew at the last minute and the substitution announced before the curtain went up.  No one seemed surprised.  My one time to see Pavarotti was also the victim of a sudden illness.  The audience, most of whom had come only to hear him, booed when the announcement was made.  I left after the first act because the production, especially the soprano, was a complete bore.  (I've mentioned how bad she was before, in other contexts.)

A fainting fit, however fake, would at least back up the claim that the illness was real.

[Wendell_E]

Because they were used to star singers backing out at the last minute with the claim they were ill,  and accompanying rumors that the singer merely did not want to perform for one reason or another.

A fainting fit, however fake, would at least back up the claim that the illness was real.

Of course, she didn't back out at the last minute, she actually sang the first act, and supposedly (I've not heard it, though a bootleg exists) her performance provided ample evidence of how ill she was.  I fear we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Tsaraslondon]

Of course, she didn't back out at the last minute, she actually sang the first act, and supposedly (I've not heard it, though a bootleg exists) her performance provided ample evidence of how ill she was.  I fear we'll just have to agree to disagree.

In fact she had already warned the Rome Opera that she was not well, and that they should have a standby waiting in case. The Rome Opera refused to do so, and, unwisely it turned out, she went ahead with the performance. When she stated that she couldn't continue, one bright spark even hinted that, as she was a great actress, maybe should could speak the role! Her cause wasn't helped by a Pathe News report which fabricated evidence of her singing perfectly at rehearsal by showing a film of her singing Casta diva at a radio concert the previous year. The press had no interest in the truth, as tales of a fiery prima donna, who cancelled at the least whim made much better copy. To this day, they seem more interested in the capricious, fiery tempered prima donna than the serious, dedicated artist that she was. We actually find that Callas's cancellation record was remarkably good. Towards the end of her career, she would often appear when ill, so afraid was she of the press reaction if she cancelled.

Callas was in fact the most professional of artists, usually the first to arrive at rehearsals and the last to leave. It is unthinkable that she would ever have missed an entrance as she was always in the wings ages before she was due to sing.

I have a friend who was one of the walk-on actors in the Callas/Gobbi/Zeffirelli Tosca at Covent Garden. Being an avid opera fan, he was always in the wings during the opera. On one occasion it was getting close to Callas's entrance and the stage manager, who knew she was usually there ages before she was due to go on, started getting worried and dispatched my friend to investigate. She was not in her dressing room so he went looking, eventually finding her under the stage amongst all the stored scenery for the other operas that were in rep.

"Mme Callas, are you ok?" he asked.
Callas, who, as is well known, was as blind as a bat without her glasses, pounced on him. "Oh thank God!" she exclaimed. "I came to do Tosca and found myself in Boris Godunov. Can you get me back to the stage?"

He duly led her back in time to make her entrance on cue.

The next day he received a huge box of chocolates with a signed photo saying, "To my saviour With grateful thanks."

I've read elsewhere of Callas's total dedication to her craft. Apparently during rehearsals for Alceste at La Scala, Margarita Wallman walked into the theatre to find Callas already there sitting in the stalls.

"But Maria, what are you doing here? I gave you the morning off as I needed to rehearse the chorus first."

"I know," responded Callas, "But I thought it a good idea to see what you were doing with them. That way, I'll be more prepared when you do get round to me."

Another anecdote involves Sutherland and demonstrates what completely different artists they were. I think it was while Sutherland was rehearsing with Zeffirelli, or maybe it was a conductor Callas had worked with regularly. Anywyay, things were not going well that day, and they kept going over a certain section, when Sutherland announced she was tired and thought it was time they finished for the day.

Someone chimed in, "Maria would have stayed till we got it right."

"Well, I'm not Maria, and anyway she's not singing so well these days," retorted Sutherland, and with that she flounced out!

[narraboth]

We are talking about Callas now? 

Gheorghiu has a reputation to withdraw at last minute at least in London, for reasons such as stomach bug.
I personally evidence one, the audience was booing for the bad excuse: 'not again!'

Eventually I heard her Tosca, it was alright tbh. Short breath, slightly cracking at the top, a bit careless on tempo. Her acting was not bad.

[zamyrabyrd]

To this day, they seem more interested in the capricious, fiery tempered prima donna than the serious, dedicated artist that she was.

A case in point, I didn't see McNally's stage play of Masterclass, actually was not much interested in it anyway until someone sent me a link about it. I was then horrified by the distortion of how charitable and patient Callas was in reality to the singers in Juilliard who by now are that proud graduating class of more than 40 years ago.
I have seen teachers with much less patience in public in masterclasses that frequently turn into showpieces for the "masters" who give them. To portray her as a capricious, humiliating vixen is really pandering to the public who would rather see caricatures of opera singers. A rule of thumb, though, the less dedicated the singer is to the art, the more tantrums and fits one can expect. For this reason alone, discussing Callas by comparison is not off topic for the thread.