Halfway through last night’s Aida at Dresden’s Semperoper, the curtain was brought down and the audience sent home.
An announcement was made that the soprano Maria José Siri was suffering from ‘circulation difficulties’.
That’s all we know so far.
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‘Kreislaufprobleme’? Only ever heard of that in Germany.
It’s a cultural thing. Just as the French constantly moan about their liver problems, Germans are amazingly prone to their Kreislaufstörungen.
Except that the singer in question is from Uruguay. Granted, there is a sizable German community in Uruguay, but certainly Kreislaufstörunge would be bred out after 75 years.
Yes, and Italians often suffer from “colpo d’aria”. Nobody seems to know what it is.
That’s exactly right. I suspect the real reason Maria couldn’t finish was kept from the public, while someone in company office (KBB) or management (Leitung) decided “Kreislaufstörungen” would be a good catch-all term to placate the public and explain away the cancellation. This obsession with one’s circulation is 100% a German peculiarity. Every country has them, and this is Germany’s.
I’ve got a better translation for you. “Kreislaufsprobleme” = clotshot.
Most unprofessional. A singer with solid technique ought to be able to, at a minimum, carry on a show end to end even when not at their best, be it a cold or any other kind of problem. And where was the cover?
Re: A.L.
Do you think Leonard Warren should have been able to get to the end of his last show? Was he unprofessional not to have? Only someone who works in opera could have such an inhuman and stupid attitude to singers.
And then he died!
It really depends on the nature and severity of the condition. If ‘circulation difficulties’ is an accurate translation, it could encompass a range of critical issues and, if this were the case, it would surely have been inappropriate to continue the show.
I hope you mean unprofessional on behalf of the Semperopera for not having a cover for a principal role. From the information provided, we don’t know the severity of Ms. Siri’s condition. For an artist of her stature, cancellations–especially mid-performance–are not made willy-nilly.
Maybe she was already sick at the start but chose to “carry on” and couldn’t make it.
My father was listening to the famous 1938 Met broadcast when Giovanni Martinelli took sick (threw up in fact) early in the opera while singing Celeste Aida, and the curtain was brought down. Also listening was Frederick Jagel who rushed to the Met by taxi and took over the role, but the audience never did hear the completion of Celeste Aida. The total delay was surprisingly brief according to my dad.
No understudy/cover available?
Covers are not common practice in Germany, as there are so many theatres, a jump-in from nearby is often possible when a singer is sick and needs to cancel (but not for mid-show cancellations of course).
Soviele Künstler erkranken dzt oder versterben! Warum wohl??? Genau wie bei den Sportlern.
Bitte übertreiben Sie nicht … nicht einmal Norman hat das in seiner Überschrift getan.
“dzt”
Is this some secret code? Are you a reptiloid? You have to tell me you’re a reptiloid!
I hate people.
And this morning in the Semperoper triumph for Daniele Gatti after a breathtaking Mahler Ninth with glorious Staatskapelle Dresden. Long standing-ovations.
As they say in Rome: the Pope (Christian) is dead, long live the Pope (Daniele)!
I was also there. A magnificent performance indeed. Then I went to Leipzig for Götterdammerung, which was also excellent. A very good Sunday.
Meanwhile, at Longborough Festival Opera in the UK, Carmen opened with six principals out of ten off with Covid. All roles covered successfully by all accounts
One hopes for her recovery.
If you posted a picture of the soprano we would have a better suspicion of why