Teatro Colon accuses Angela Gheorghiu of misconduct

Teatro Colon accuses Angela Gheorghiu of misconduct

main

norman lebrecht

March 11, 2017

The Buenos Aires opera house has issued its own account of the events that prompted the Romanian soprano to storm out last week. We have shortened the text slightly for legal reasons.

Media release:

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 8 March 2015 – The Argentine soprano, Virginia Tola, will sing the leading role of Adriana Lecouvreur in the opening night of the 2017 season of the Teatro Colón, replacing Angela Gheorghiu, who refused to agree to the contract terms offered by the administration of the theater.

…Having agreed to arrive in Buenos Aires on February 27th to begin rehearsals on March 1st. Angela Gheorghiu arrived on March 1st instead, and retired to her hotel suite for three days, during which time she was silent, refusing to attend rehearsals, costume fittings or to communicate whatsoever with the administration of the theater. She remained cloistered in her hotel throughout her stay in Buenos Aires, refusing to meet with any representative of the Teatro Colón…

Having agreed to the basic terms of her engagement via a letter of agreement, issued in October 2016, Gheorghiu arrived in Buenos Aires without having signed the contract issued by the Teatro Colón and delivered to her manager. On March 3rd, the administration was informed by the manager that Miss Gheorghiu required changes to the contract. The administration was able to grant her requests with the exception of her insistence that the universally utilized force majeure clause be removed. Such clauses are required by city regulation to protect all parties against acts of God, war, and civil tumult. Miss Gheorghiu’s refusal to sign the contact, coupled with her unwillingness to participate in the collaborative artistic preparation of the Adriana Lecouvreur, caused the administration of the Teatro Colón to cease contract negotiations and present Virginia Tola as Adriana Lecouvreur in the four performances originally offered to Miss Gheorghiu.

 

Comments

  • pianoronald says:

    This is why I said: audiatur et altra pars.

    • Sidd says:

      *altera

    • JJ says:

      We would listen to the other side if they would release an official statement.

      The text here is just gossip from unofficial sources that appeared in a newspaper, it’s not an official statement. The title here is actually misconducting 🙂

  • JJ says:

    1. I really doubt she agreed to arrive on the 27th of February considering the fact that her last performance of the season as Adriana Lecouvreur in London was on the evening of February 27. If she probably left London on the 28th, she would arrive in Buenos Aires on the 1st of March..

    2. Why attend rehearsals and costume fittings without a proper signed contract?

    3. What about the refusal of Miss Alcaraz to have a conversation with her?

    • Bruce says:

      1. Teatro Colon is not responsible for, or responsible for knowing, her schedule. If she couldn’t be there on Feb. 27, she shouldn’t have agreed to be.

      2. You mean, without having signed the contract that they’d given her? (— or rather, they’d given it to her agent. Perhaps her agent hadn’t shown it to her yet. Either way, it’s not the Teatro’s fault if she hadn’t signed yet.)

      3. It sounds like she insisted she must speak to the very top person, rather than the person whose job it is to deal with artists and contracts. A bit like a government employee insisting that he’s so important, he must negotiate his salary with the President, not just the cabinet minister (or the minister’s undersecretary for employee affairs).

      4. Yes. If her management agreed, on her behalf, to terms she found unacceptable, that is not the theater’s fault. She should have a conversation with her management team.

      • Bray Grem says:

        “…Teatro Colon is not responsible for, or responsible for knowing, her schedule. If she couldn’t be there on Feb. 27, she shouldn’t have agreed to be…”
        Bruce, who told you Ms Gheorghiu had agreed the mentioned date? Neither Gheorghiu nor the Colon said that
        The official statement from the Colon only declares that “…due to artistic reasons…”, Gheorghiu cancelled the role. You should not treat the rumors so seriously.

  • JJ says:

    1. I really doubt she agreed to arrive on February 27th considering the fact that her last performance of the season as Adriana Lecouvreur in London was on the evening of February 27. If she would have left one day after the performance (February 28), she would arrive on the 1st of March

    2. Why should she attend any rehearsals or costume fittings without a proper signed contract?

    3. How about the refusal of the general director, miss Alcaraz, to have a conversation with her?

    4. It seems there was definitely a problem in AG’s management team as well. She shouldn’t have travelled to Buenos Aires without a signed contract..

  • Alexander says:

    … more to the point – did she ask a million and they refused to pay or what ? money makes the world go round – and Lisa Minelly said aloud first 🙂

  • Gigi Vary says:

    “…Having agreed to arrive in Buenos Aires on February 27th… ” Angela Gheorghiu performed Adriana Lecouvreur at Covent Garden London until the ngiht of 27 February, than came back to Romania to take the photo shoot for the Unica Magazine. This was supposed to be scheduled earlier than the Colon. So, I suppose that her agent was the one to blame.

  • Aurelia says:

    She is a free spirit, great talent ,greatest of our time , how could she can’t refuse something that she don’t agree with?? I absolutely agree with her , all must do like her ,if the contract make abuses…especially if you have such a precious voice as Angela ,she must protect herself !

    • Tristan says:

      you must be joking as she sitze most overrated soprano of our time – one hardly hears her voice, no fire, no blood, nothing! Her Tosca was weak and her Adriana didn’t exist! You should hire Netrebko or Harreos if you want a great soprano or Nina Stemme for Wagner – forget Angela at your huge house

      • Gigi Vary says:

        Hey Tristan, who is making jokes now? If Gheorghiu is the most overrated soprano of our time, then how about Ms Netrebko, a soprano who hasn’t made any sense in any roles? Or maybe Netrebko would not even register as an eligible opera soprano.

      • Gigi Vary says:

        The Great Netrebko sing Adriana:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWwLQfuKA0w
        If Gheorghiu is the most overrated soprano of our time, then how about Ms Netrebko, a soprano who hasn’t made any sense in any roles?

  • Robin Worth says:

    Could you please give us the Spanish language version? I can’t find it on the Colon site

  • Aria da capo says:

    Who payed for the hotel suite where she retired for three days?

  • Ms. Killingbeck says:

    IMG Artists messes up again?

  • Alvaro says:

    The only official statement of the Teatro Colon was posted just on their facebook page (not even their official website..) and they only gave “exclusive artistic reasons” (??), and this after 6 hours after Angela’s statement was published. There is absolutely nothing else official coming from them.
    It is their loss they don’t got Angela to sing there, it is a shame!
    Interesting to see the reaction of maestro Ciampa, who was announced just one day before travelling that he was ditched out of the production, no reason given:
    https://m.facebook.com/francescoivanciampa/?locale2=it_IT
    In his case, T Colon stated that due to force majeure he was substituted by their local conductor, who nobody heard of.
    More than that, they have their local soprano, Tola, singing the lead..so they only have Corbelli as a star there.
    After listening to Tola’s monologue I am extremely sorry for all of those who will be listening to this..:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MQQaKdjOw1o

  • Phil Artéaux says:

    Teatro Colon? Sounds gastroenterological.

  • Rosalia Yanovskaya says:

    Big loss for Colon theatre and the opera goers!
    Angela’s voice is unique ,particularly in this role.
    Shame to this confrontations from the administration , shame!

  • Marlene says:

    This whole situation reeks to high heaven. Contracts like these are negotiated way in advance. Opera companies put out their season at least a year in advance and all talent is contracted in advance not the day of rehearsals. If this is true then both parties are idiots.

    • Ms. Killingbeck says:

      Yes, in theory one would negotiate the contract in advance. But here is what happens when management assigns inexperienced associates to such tasks and provides them with no managerial supervision.

  • Roberto Sebastian Cava says:

    Ms Gheorghiu came to this country and the Colon Theatre payed all the xpenses of her flight in first class and the 5 stars hotel in Buenos Aires.I think that she was angry due to the change of musical director for “Adriana”. Argentine soprano Virgina Tola, younger star and wonderful singer, replaced Ms Gheorghiu.

  • Skeptical says:

    Seriously, I kind of had enough of “what a loss” sighs and fake tragedies.

    A rather unintelligent and of meager talent waning star (she is already older than Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard”), with an emotional ambitus covering the whole gamut from “a” to “b”, with a repertoire which could be exhausted on the back of a matchbox with space left, with a wide vibrato more generous than the main pitch (her high A Flats are beautifully placed between G and F#), likes to make occasionally a spectacle of herself, to the concerned delight of her dwindling bouquet of groupies. At least Battle could sing at some point.

    “Fin” – that’s all, folks.

  • MOST READ TODAY: