Just in: Jonas Kaufmann cancels Moscow’s New Year Eve

Just in: Jonas Kaufmann cancels Moscow’s New Year Eve

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norman lebrecht

December 29, 2017

The tenor is ill, says concert agency Ildar Bakeev Entertainment.

He will be replaced by Cardiff finalist Kang Wang and Bolshoi soloist Ekaterina Morozova.

UPDATE: Florez cancels Budapest’s New Year.

Comments

  • Olassus says:

    Poor Kang Wang.

  • Petros Linardos says:

    We keep reading here about Kaufmann”s cancellations. How often has he appeared on stage in recent months?

    • cathy liebig says:

      since january always

    • Riet Wortel says:

      Jonas Kaufmann had cancelled two performances this year ( London and Rome )How many times have you been ill???????

      • Mrs.Laszló Sarkady says:

        The human voice is not a piano or a cello which can be tune with the strings .Any illness or even fatigue can prevent the singer from performing. Singing requires maximum concentration and physical health.

        Mr.Kaufmann, wish you a quick healing. Relax!!!! Speriamo che al concerto di Budapest in February will be OK.

    • Isabel Pato says:

      Hum… Let me see.. Lohengrin, Paris ~ Chenier,Paris~ Chenier, Munich(March, July and December)~ Tosca, Wien ~ Otello, ROH ~ La Forza del Destino, Munich ~ Don Carlos, Paris ~~ Parsifal, Sidney ~concerts at Barbican, Gütersloh, Hamburg, Amsterdam, China tour.. maybe others, I dont remember now.. And Munchen Dezember 10.. his last concert so far, where he was in top form. Do you also want the dates? I don’t know how hard you usually work, but this seems to me a busy year ! And even more busy after his long pause. And even more if one thinks on 2 Wagner, and 2 tough Verdi in the same year. You’re only right in 1 fact : we keep reading HERE about JK cancellations. Although… many top\ famous singers cancelled this year, without the honor of a post here. Hum.. That’s love, I believe 🙂

      • Viola Jane says:

        Nicely put Isabel! The Slipped Disc vultures circle again…

        To the best of my knowledge, until Rome, there had been just one cancellation in 2017 and a whole host of breathtaking performances. Good health is the priority – get well soon Herr Kaufmann

      • Lenia Kallis says:

        In Opera and Concert singing , these extraordinary level trained voices might require the need for extra rest! If mishandled you end up with no voice in the end ! The more difficult the repertoire the more rest one has to take! So I completely understand! Preservation of the voice is vital for such professions and specifically at that high level too!

  • cathy liebig says:

    sorry, I forgot the Barbican cancellation, but else?

  • Omniscient Conch says:

    They might have just announced it, but methinks that this has been set since at least December 14. I heard Wang discussing this engagement in NYC.

  • Mister New York says:

    Luckily I saw Franco Corelli in opera so the Kaufman phenomenon is little league news to me. And I don’t mean this to sound snobby.

    • martain smith says:

      Indeed! And not forgetting Bergonzi, Aragall, Kraus (Alfredo),Vickers, etc.,etc.
      Artists one was prepared to stand for – and I mean BEFORE as well as after a performance!

  • Dave says:

    This guy evidently never heard the phrase, “The show must go on.”

    • Viola Jane says:

      How ridiculous.

    • Michelle says:

      It’s that kind of attitude that results in singers losing their voices and needing voice surgery. Sadly the voice is part of you, if you are not well, especially if you have an illness affecting the sinuses, repiratory or vocal tract, you have no option but to cancel. Otherwise you open yourself up to all sorts of criticisms.

      • Dave says:

        He is already being criticized for not showing up recently. Besides, people paid top dollar to see the ‘A’ team not the ‘B’ team. Voice surgery? Please, spare us such silliness.

    • Helen Dutton says:

      You e sing stupid. Do you carry on regardless when you are ill? Surely you do not expect Herr Kaufmann to go ahead and sing when ill and put in a less than perfect performance. Can you imagine what the detractors would say then? I hope he’s well again very soon, so that he may delight us once again with his wonderful singing. And yes before you say, I have heard him live. He is stunning.

    • Patricia Wøods says:

      An instrument is a very different performing material to a singing voice. The instrument player is not dependant on his body which could be having various problems which then impact in many ways on a voice. Only a working, practising singer can really know the vulnerability of voice to changes in body, whether by sickness or other variables.

  • Olga says:

    Hope that Jonas Kaufmann will get well soon and his wonderful voice will sound marvelous again.
    Guten Rutsch, Jonas!
    It’s always a regret when a famous singer cancels a performance, but singers are human beings, and it’s winter time with its chilly weather.

  • Simone d'Arné says:

    Of course one accepts there will be illness from time to time and without warning and cancellations will be inevitable, but, I can not help but note the punishing and quite unrealistic schedule these singers choose.
    The voice is the most fragile of instruments whatever training has been adopted. One does not put one’s voice into an instrument case and let it rest in between performances. Nor can one acquire a replacement voice.
    So. Juan and Jonas, please tone down you appearances, take rests and maybe have fewer cancellations.
    For your own sakes as well as ours

  • Daria says:

    Mr. Kaufmann health is paramount, I hope he gets well soon! Although his illness obviously isn’t grave, he cancels the New Year Eve’s performance, but still plans to sing in Japan in just 3 days. The most disappointing thing is the absolute silence of Jonas and his management. It takes a minute to write something nice and warm for the people whom you’ve disappointed so much. A lot of people changed their plans and stayed in Moscow for this concert instead of leaving for the holidays (we have 8 days of holidays here). It would be nice not to be completely ignored, for example all pop stars always post heartwarming messages for their fans when they need to cancel their shows. It’s called the mutual respect, I suppose.

  • Elizabeth Valois says:

    I always wonder what will happen with Jonas Kaufmann’s detractors (Slippedisc included) the day he decides to stop singing : no more bones to chew…? So sad for them….!!!

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