# Trebs withdraws from Norma at ROH



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Statement from ROH.

Tickets haven't gone on sale but I wonder how many people will have already booked flights/hotels?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Statement from ROH.
> 
> Tickets haven't gone on sale but I wonder how many people will have already booked flights/hotels?


At least she's honest about not doing it, no silly excuses.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> At least she's honest about not doing it, no silly excuses.


Yes but she will have known her voice wasn't suitable _before_ the season announcement and _before_ ROH set the eye-watering prices for Norma. I wonder if they'll reduce the prices?


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Yes but she will have known her voice wasn't suitable _before_ the season announcement and _before_ ROH set the eye-watering prices for Norma. I wonder if they'll reduce the prices?


Nope. I don't agree. These things are signed long before the fact. And even if she thought she could do it and didn't want to disappoint everyone and upset the apple cart at the last minute, she rallied on. But voices change.  And certainly Neb's has. She did the honorable thing. I figure she's heading down the Wagner road.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

nina foresti said:


> Nope. I don't agree. These things are signed long before the fact. And even if she thought she could do it and didn't want to disappoint everyone and upset the apple cart at the last minute, she rallied on. But voices change. And certainly Neb's has. She did the honorable thing. I figure she's heading down the Wagner road.


I fully understand and respect her reasons. However ROH announced their season three weeks ago and I suspect Netrebko's voice hasn't changed much in three weeks.

One good thing has come of this as ROH has finally admitted that they hike prices for certain singers. I've had an email from them: "We will send you full casting information and revised ticket prices as soon as it is available." Not like when Kaufmann withdrew from _Les Troyens_ and ROH insisted that the inflated price reflected the cost of the production and had nothing to do with who was singing.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

sospiro said:


> I fully understand and respect her reasons. However ROH announced their season three weeks ago and I suspect Netrebko's voice hasn't changed much in three weeks.
> 
> .


Perhaps not, but being that you probably were not in on the discussions she was having with Pappano and staff, you really don't know what led up to the final decision. She did it before ticket sales and for that I applaud her. She could have done a "Kauffman" and left everyone stranded.
She deserves respect, not condemnation, for her last minute decision.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I can think that this might be the chance for: Sondra Radvanovsky, can't think anybody else is capable :tiphat:


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Pugg said:


> I can think that this might be the chance for: Sondra Radvanovsky, can't think anybody else is capable :tiphat:


Absolutely!!! She is doing it at the Met and she is the number one soprano in the world today. Shades of Callas.
Fingers crossed that she says yes.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

sospiro said:


> Statement from ROH.
> 
> Tickets haven't gone on sale but I wonder how many people will have already booked flights/hotels?


This is the exact reason I would never go a very long way (like, to another country) just to see a specific singer: singers are human and prone to cancelling for various reasons. That said, if I had booked tickets to this production, I'd still go; it would be pretty ridiculous not to, IMO.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

sospiro said:


> One good thing has come of this as ROH has finally admitted that they hike prices for certain singers. I've had an email from them: "We will send you full casting information and revised ticket prices as soon as it is available." Not like when Kaufmann withdrew from _Les Troyens_ and ROH insisted that the inflated price reflected the cost of the production and had nothing to do with who was singing.


This is really fascinating! Thanks for sharing.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Apparently she was going to be singing _Norma_ at the Met but has withdrawn from that now, too.

You can almost hear the gritted teeth in Kasper Holten's statement. 

"_Kasper Holten, Director of Opera added, 'We are working hard on finding a new leading soprano to join Tony Pappano, Joseph Calleja, Sonia Ganassi and Brindley Sherratt in the rehearsal room later this summer. We are, of course, very frustrated that Anna has felt it necessary to cancel a major role debut with us for the second time. We have done everything we can to avoid this situation. Whilst we regret that her withdrawal has come at such a late stage, we do respect her decision and understand how difficult this is for her as well. We are sorry for the disappointment this may cause some of our audience.'_"


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Sondra Radvanovsky is scheduled to be singing the role at COC in Toronto; she sings the first four performances before being replaced by Elza van den Heever. First performance is Oct 6, though the second isn't until the 15th. The final performances at ROH are Oct 1, 4, and 8.

Radvanovsky sang in the COC production (by Newbury) in SF, but she'd either have to skip half the run (or more) at ROH (which is certainly a bigger audience, etc) or withdraw from (at least) the first performance at COC. Elza van den Heever does not appear to have any opera booked for September or the start of October, so perhaps this is possible.

Another possibility is Angela Meade. Her schedule appears open in September, and she doesn't start Norma at Teatro Real in Madrid until Oct 21. The run is shared with (and opened by) Maria Agresta, with a single performance at the end by Mariella Devia.

I am sure COC would prefer to have Radvanovsky concentrating on their performances. And Teatro Real Madrid would prefer to have Angela Meade concentrating on their performances.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mountmccabe said:


> Sondra Radvanovsky is scheduled to be singing the role at COC in Toronto; she sings the first four performances before being replaced by Elza van den Heever. First performance is Oct 6, though the second isn't until the 15th. The final performances at ROH are Oct 1, 4, and 8.
> 
> Radvanovsky sang in the COC production (by Newbury) in SF, but she'd either have to skip half the run (or more) at ROH (which is certainly a bigger audience, etc) or withdraw from (at least) the first performance at COC. Elza van den Heever does not appear to have any opera booked for September or the start of October, so perhaps this is possible.
> 
> ...


I'm sure none of these houses would be happy to lose their _Norma_ to ROH but it's such a demanding role and not one to which any old soprano can jump in.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

sospiro said:


> Apparently she was going to be singing _Norma_ at the Met but has withdrawn from that now, too.
> 
> You can almost hear the gritted teeth in Kasper Holten's statement.
> 
> "_Kasper Holten, Director of Opera added, 'We are working hard on finding a new leading soprano to join Tony Pappano, Joseph Calleja, Sonia Ganassi and Brindley Sherratt in the rehearsal room later this summer. We are, of course, very frustrated that Anna has felt it necessary to cancel a major role debut with us for the second time. We have done everything we can to avoid this situation. Whilst we regret that her withdrawal has come at such a late stage, we do respect her decision and understand how difficult this is for her as well. We are sorry for the disappointment this may cause some of our audience.'_"


If Holten hadn't already handed in his notice would he have written "Anna has felt it necessary to cancel a major role debut with us for the second time"?

Just curious ,what was the other one and the reason?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Belowpar said:


> If Holten hadn't already handed in his notice would he have written "Anna has felt it necessary to cancel a major role debut with us for the second time"?


I wonder! It just seems odd that she allowed the season announcement to go ahead when it did because she must have known for a while that the role doesn't suit her voice.

The first few comments on the ROH season announcement page are interesting, there were several people who were sceptical.



Belowpar said:


> Just curious, what was the other one and the reason?


Faust. Not right for her voice.


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

The ROH has not been very lucky with Trebs.... Her comeback to the ROH was to be in Faust with Calleja... Earlier in 2008 she and Kaufman brought down the house with Traviata during opening night, but she cancelled most of the run. Same when she sang Donna Anna, replacing Trebs was Marina Poplavskaya's big break, what ever happened to her by the way ? And now again. I'm sure she new she wouldn't sing Norma much earlier. The good thing is the tickets were not on sale. The reason we didn't know before ROH announced the new season would be interesting to know. I expect her manager had been pushing to give it more thought. Poor Tony he has been dying for years to finally do a full blown opera with her. I wonder what future project he is hinting at. My guess is Giovanna d'arco. 

As for her future roles, I'm not sure about her choice to sing Elsa. Her Strauss cd with Barenboim is terrible, I wanted to like it, but it just isn't for her. Most likely it was released to please the record company. She has also hinted to sing Aida. I was hoping for Elisabetta, Leonora (Forza). 

By the way I don't think the 2015 Boheme tickets were more expensive than normal.

There's also the possibility ROH will not do the Norma at all, it won't be the first time Trebs changes the program. In 2014 she was to sing Contessa in Figaro, but it was changed to Donna Anna, changing to another opera.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Seattle found a star around 20 years ago when Carol Vaness bowed out of Norma last minute and Jane Eaglen stepped in. In her short prime Eaglen was spectacular at Norma, even though she resembled Shrek in a dress. She even had the high D for the trio. I think her prime for Wagner lasted longer than her Bel Canto prime. I'm not sure if Vaness, an otherwise fine singer, ever sang Norma.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Dongiovanni said:


> The ROH has not been very lucky with Trebs.... Her comeback to the ROH was to be in Faust with Calleja... Earlier in 2008 she and Kaufman brought down the house with Traviata during opening night, but she cancelled most of the run. Same when she sang Donna Anna, replacing Trebs was Marina Poplavskaya's big break, what ever happened to her by the way ? And now again. I'm sure she new she wouldn't sing Norma much earlier. The good thing is the tickets were not on sale. The reason we didn't know before ROH announced the new season would be interesting to know. I expect her manager had been pushing to give it more thought. Poor Tony he has been dying for years to finally do a full blown opera with her. I wonder what future project he is hinting at. My guess is Giovanna d'arco.
> 
> As for her future roles, I'm not sure about her choice to sing Elsa. Her Strauss cd with Barenboim is terrible, I wanted to like it, but it just isn't for her. Most likely it was released to please the record company. She has also hinted to sing Aida. I was hoping for Elisabetta, Leonora (Forza).
> 
> ...


Looks like she also has canceled the Met _Norma_ of next season. I have the strangest feeling that they will simply shelve the production and fill it in with something else. (_Fanciulla del West_ maybe?)


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Looks like she also has canceled the Met _Norma_ of next season. I have the strangest feeling that they will simply shelve the production and fill it in with something else. (_Fanciulla del West_ maybe?)


Well she has to hasn't she, she can hardly cancelling in one house and sing it in the next.
If that would be true end career


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

As smene commented elsewhere:
It’s not unusual for an artist to accept a new role years in advance and then discover nearer the time that something does not fit. Janet Baker accepted the role of Alceste with Scottish Opera for performances at the 1974 Edinburgh Festival. As she started to learn the role, she found problems with the tessitura and eventually pulled out. Julia Varady took her place. 

Even in recordings - Bastianini turned up to sing Otello with Karajan without learning the part!


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

lmao! I first read this as "Treble withdraws from Norma" and thought "I should hope so! they're probably missing half and octave at either end along with about 90% of the required vocal weight" XD


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

sospiro said:


> ...ROH has finally admitted that they hike prices for certain singers... Not like when Kaufmann withdrew from _Les Troyens_ and ROH insisted that the inflated price reflected the cost of the production [not] who was singing.


Quite so. However, on the plus side, the last-minute substitute they found for Kaufmann made a sensational début. I was there on the first night and, whilst initially disappointed that JK had withdrawn, Bryan Hymel's brilliant performance meant that I didn't miss Kaufmann one bit. Indeed, the whole evening was one of the best I've experienced in any theatre.

Here's hoping similar happens with _Norma_.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I just remember that they could ask Eva Matia Westbroek to sing the part, not the world star but for sure devoted to her roles :tiphat:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> lmao! I first read this as "Treble withdraws from Norma" and thought "I should hope so! they're probably missing half and octave at either end along with about 90% of the required vocal weight" XD


:lol:

That had me choking on my coffee!!!!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> Quite so. However, on the plus side, the last-minute substitute they found for Kaufmann made a sensational début. I was there on the first night and, whilst initially disappointed that JK had withdrawn, Bryan Hymel's brilliant performance meant that I didn't miss Kaufmann one bit. Indeed, the whole evening was one of the best I've experienced in any theatre.
> 
> Here's hoping similar happens with _Norma_.


I saw it too and, yes, Hymel was outstanding. It helped that he'd sung role previously, at Amsterdam I think.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Pugg said:


> I just remember that they could ask Eva Matia Westbroek to sing the part, not the world star but for sure devoted to her roles :tiphat:


She is great. I'm looking forward to seeing her in _Manon Lescaut_.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I think the difference between JK cancelling Les Troyens and Trebs cancelling Norma is that staging a new Troyens is a massive undertaking no matter who is in it. Norma is probably different. Furthermore although Calleja is in Norma and I think he is a wonderful singer, I do wonder how well it will sell. Bel canto it appears needs star vehicles to get bums on seats and are lucky to Florez and the like. Lucia struggled to sell at ROH even before the production controversy. They must reduce prices or they'll be onto a massive loser.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

jflatter said:


> I think the difference between JK cancelling Les Troyens and Trebs cancelling Norma is that staging a new Troyens is a massive undertaking no matter who is in it. Norma is probably different. Furthermore although Calleja is in Norma and I think he is a wonderful singer, I do wonder how well it will sell. Bel canto it appears needs star vehicles to get bums on seats and are lucky to Florez and the like. Lucia struggled to sell at ROH even before the production controversy. They must reduce prices or they'll be onto a massive loser.


*Norma* stands or falls on the merits of its leading soprano, something fully brought home to me when I saw Sylvia Sass in the role at Covent Garden some years ago. Her performance, wholly inadequate, was totally outshone by the Adalgisa of Agnes Baltsa, but, however brilliant her singing, she could not save the performance.

Since Callas sang the role in the house in 1952, 1953 and 1957, Covent Garden has struggled to find a soprano to fill the role. Even Sutherland's performance was only a qualified success, nowhere near on the level of her spectacular Lucia. It was a big mistake for Margaret Price and Verrett also had only a qualified success, many opining that she should have stuck to mezzo roles ( I tend to agree; she was fabulous as Eboli, Carmen, Dalila and the like).

In any case, Netrebko, in my opinion, would never have made a good Norma. There are clips of her singing _Casta diva_ on youtube, and it is woefully inadequate, the coloratura melismas approximately sung, her downward chromatic scale nothing more than a slither. These things do, or should, matter, but these days very few people seem to care about such vocal niceties.

If _bel canto_ doesn't fill opera houses the way it used to, it seems to me that it is because of a lack of singers able to do it full justice, and a surfeit of productions which strive to make points, rather than recognising its Romantic roots.

Recently Radvanovsky in *Roberto Devereux* and DiDonato in *Maria Stuarda* have proved that _bel canto_ opera can still be vital and exciting, _and_ well sung, and these performances had no problem getting bums on seats.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

BalalaikaBoy said:


> lmao! I first read this as "Treble withdraws from Norma" and thought "I should hope so! they're probably missing half and octave at either end along with about 90% of the required vocal weight" XD


instead of "In Mia Man", the duet would be over the lead threatening to report the tenor for statutory rape :lol:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Sonya Yoncheva jumps in.

Good for her and kind of the Met to release her.

_Edit: Top price ticket is now £225 as opposed to £240 for Trebs. Quite a bit less._

_Edit2: Top price was £270_


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

sospiro said:


> Sonya Yoncheva jumps in.
> 
> Good for her and kind of the Met to release her.
> 
> _Edit: Top price ticket is now £225 as opposed to £240 for Trebs. Quite a bit less._


So we do have a outsider.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Met is now adding another production to their schedule in Sept. 2017 of _Norma_ with Sondra Radvanovsky as a result of Her Nebs' cancellations. But Nebs will now replace Gheorghiu as _Tosca_ in Dec. -Jan 2017-18


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Musical sopranos


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## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Musical sopranos
> 
> View attachment 84209


Thanks for that helpful diagram! Much easier to follow than this explanation:

_But if Ms. Netrebko's New York fans are losing a Norma, they are gaining a Tosca. Ms. Netrebko plans to perform the title character in Puccini's "Tosca," a role debut for her, in a new production at the Met in the 2017-18 season, sharing the role with Kristine Opolais.

For those keeping score as the latest example of the prima donna-mo effect unfolds, this is how Ms. Netrebko's decision not to sing Norma will ripple through the opera world.

In London, the soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who has made a name for herself gamely stepping into roles at the last minute, will replace Ms. Netrebko as Norma at the Royal Opera House this fall, in what will be her role debut. That will require her to withdraw from five performances as Mimì in "La Bohème" at the Met, where she will be replaced by Ailyn Pérez. (Ms. Pérez was available because she recently withdrew from a production of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" which was to open the Dallas Opera's season.)

In New York, the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who won accolades for her command of bel canto style when she sang all three queens in Donizetti's so-called "Tudor trilogy" this season, will replace Ms. Netrebko in the new production of "Norma" that will open the Met's 2017-18 season. That production will be directed by David McVicar and will also star Joyce DiDonato as Adalgisa and Joseph Calleja as Pollione.

Ms. Radvanovsky was supposed to be singing Leonora in Verdi's "Il Trovatore" in Vienna that fall. But the Vienna State Opera released her from her contract so she could replace Ms. Netrebko in New York. Replacing Ms. Radvanovsky in Vienna? Ms. Netrebko.

But the Viennese will not be the only ones who will get to hear Ms. Netrebko's Leonora in 2017-18. The Met said that it would add a revival of "Il Trovatore" to its season so that she could reprise the role, with which she had a big success earlier this season._

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/arts/music/operas-game-of-musical-chairs-brings-a-netrebko-reprise.html?_r=0


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Met is now adding another production to their schedule in Sept. 2017 of _Norma_ with Sondra Radvanovsky as a result of Her Nebs' cancellations. But Nebs will now replace Gheorghiu as _Tosca_ in Dec. -Jan 2017-18


The first is good news, the second, I don't care


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## Dongiovanni (Jul 30, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Musical sopranos
> 
> View attachment 84209


Brilliant diagram ! Who will now sing Tatyana in Dallas ? Butterfly effect in the opera world 

Funny enough I make these kind of diagrams when learning new operas to see the relations between characters. Makes it so much easier.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Dongiovanni said:


> Brilliant diagram ! Who will now sing Tatyana in Dallas? Butterfly effect in the opera world
> 
> Funny enough I make these kind of diagrams when learning new operas to see the relations between characters. Makes it so much easier.


What a good idea! I must try doing that.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Sonya Yoncheva jumps in.
> 
> Good for her and kind of the Met to release her.
> 
> ...


Whatever, I won't be going! :lol:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Whatever, I won't be going! :lol:


Not even Live in HD at the cinema


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

DavidA said:


> Whatever, I won't be going! :lol:


Perché?

1) You wanted to see Anna?
2) You don't like Sonya?
3) You don't like the opera?
4) Too expensive?
5) You're going to be spending late September/early October on a yacht sailing around the Caribbean?


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