Last minute stand-ins

[B_cereus]

Just wondering here...

how does this work? when the soloist as billed is *indisposed* at the last minute? And it's too late to cancel?

Does the organizer yell for help and phone through his contacts book for an alternative artist? Contact the local conservatoire for their most talented student as a last resort?

Also, are people who bought their ticket on the expectation of seeing Superstar Soloist, entitled to a refund? (although obviously it could work the other way, in that you could be treated to a brilliant up-and-coming star that you otherwise would not have known about yet).

I am also thinking how, aside from the usual competition route to star status, it seems wowing the audience and critics as a last minute stand-in replacement for an indisposed big name, can launch a career.

[greg]

i'd like to know that, too!

once when i was little, i went to a wrestling match with my dad and couldn't wait to see the Undertaker!

...... but he wasn't there. The reason was that his dad died. 

So we just saw the other guys, no refund, but i guess a soloist in a concert must be a different matter.

[B_cereus]

i'd like to know that, too!

once when i was little, i went to a wrestling match with my dad and couldn't wait to see the Undertaker!

...... but he wasn't there. The reason was that his dad died. 

So we just saw the other guys, no refund, but i guess a soloist in a concert must be a different matter.

*Splutter*  I know I shouldn't laugh...

[jochanaan]

At the community level, you just hope you know someone who can play the concerto!  Sometimes, there's a last-minute change in repertoire too, if you can find a soloist who knows another concerto that the orchestra also knows--but that's seldom done since the orchestra may not be comfortable playing the other concerto at a moment's notice.

I suppose, at the world-class level, there are any number of players just waiting for chances like this.

I've never heard of refunds being issued unless the concert is canceled altogether.

[knight66]

In part it will depend just how last minute it is. In the main, the concert organiser would initially turn to that artist's agent to see if there was an agreeable substitute available. An alternative is that some of the big organisations have a kind of calender in which they keep tabs on some substitutes they might want to get hold of. Finally, they would use contacts of various sorts.

I have seen substitutes a number of times and they were clearly obtained in different ways.

In Fidelio, we had to wait half an hour for curtain-up until a totally unfamiliar singer arrived, flying in and going directly to be costumed and shoved onto the stage.

In Turandot, a temperamental singer was substituted by an understudy; who I think had been given good odds that she would end up in the performances.

Caballe cancelled on the day of a performance in the Edinburgh Festival. Emanuel Ax and Yo Yo Ma gave a chamber music concert instead. I guess it was a case of casting around to see who was in Edinburgh and gratefully accepting the offer from Ax and Ma.

The conductor Sir John Pritchard kept himself free over the Edinburgh Festival period and I know he substituted for Previn and Kubelik amongst others. Reginald Goodall was supposed to conduct the opening concert in Edin. one year, Beethoven's 9th, quite close to the performance he withdrew. Andrew Davis did the concert. I don't know exactly how that was arranged.

As to getting a refund. The audience for Caballe was offered a refund. This was announced as we were told that Caballe had cancelled and who would play, I can't recall noticing anyone leave. That is the only time I have been offered a refund. Several times now Terfel has withdrawn from performances I was going to see. When Jon Vickers cancelled a Covent Garden Grimes and they substituted someone I had never heard of and have never heard of since, there was no offer of money back.

It may revolve around whether the cancelling artist was really the main attraction or one of a roster of artists.

Mike

[springrite]

Refunds almost never happen, unless it is a solo recital, in which case usually it is simply canceled altogether and refund given, which is what happened to 4 of 5 Michelangeli recitals I bought tickets for. The other time it was announced that he's not going to be able to give the recital 10 minutes AFTER the starting time!