Berlin Phil finds last-minute local saviour

When the French soprano Julie Fuchs called in sick for tonight’s performance of Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue, brows were furrowed in the Berlin Philharmonic bunker. Not many sopranos carry that elusive work in their memory, least of all within easy flying distance.

Calls were made.

Happily, a replacement was found right in Berlin, within a bus ride of the Philharmonie.

Step forward Anna Prohaska, Austrian and British by nationality but a Berliner by residence.

UPDATE Anna writes: ‘Insane jump-in tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. Just got back home from Vienna late last night. 9:30am phone calls and messages on my phone from the Berlin Phil – dress rehearsal at 10:10am in front of a small audience and cameras.’

Tonight’s programme now reads:

Berliner Philharmoniker
François­-Xavier Roth conductor
Isabelle Faust violin
Anna Prohaska soprano
Adèle Charvet mezzo-soprano
Ladies of the Rundfunkchor Berlin choir

Paul Dukas Polyeucte: Ouverture
Béla Bartók Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2, Sz 112
Claude Debussy La Damoiselle élue
Paul Dukas L’Apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice)