Jump-in saves rare opera by singing it sight unseen
NewsAstonishing events at Leipzig where Emmerich Kálmán’s little-known operetta Das Veilchen vom Montmartre almost had to be cancelled when the lead soprano fell sick. Calls were made all over the German-speaking world to locate a coloratura soprano who knew the part, and none was to be found.
Up stepped Christina Maria Fercher from the Dresden State Operetta. She had never heard or seen the work before but she gamely agreed to sight-read the leading role from the wings of the stage while others got on with the main drama.
We hear she got the biggest ovation of her life. She deserves an Iron Cross for courage.
Wow. Kudos.
She was Kalman-as-a-cucumber!
“She’ll be kalman around the mountains when she . . .
An “Iron Cross for courage”. I would expect better from you Norman. Appalling imagery.
While the Kalman work is not often staged, it contains a memorable tango: “Heut’ Nacht hab’ ich getraumt von dir.”
Isn’t it von dir geträumt?
No, it’s not. Check out Nicolai Gedda on YouTube.
Amazing story! Don’t know the opera but to do this with any role needs a level of musicianship and technical skill most of us can only dream of.
I completely agree Anna T. !
An exceptional achievement, and exceptional courage
Wonderful story! Let’s hope this gives her career a serious boost.
Why aren’t the German houses smart enough to comprehend the concept of a COVER??? These saved-by-a-valiant-hero stories are tiresome and immature. Just cover the roles, especially in a case such as this, where a piece that isn’t good enough to hold a place in the repertory _thus singers not having it in their reps_
and you risk so much. I would demand my money back had I paid a lot to hear some unknown singer sight-read it. Unacceptable.
I understand that ROH also confirms to this ‘Gee, what’s a cover?’ syndrome but perhaps I am wrong. Just more stupidity from the world of opera and its general damagers.
This story defies belief. Even if the singer sight-read through the production, the quality of the singing could not have been great, if the singer was actually sight-reading cold. Yeoman’s effort, I guess, but unfair to a paying audience.
A similar thing happened last week when American soprano Meredith Hoffmann-Thomson jumped into a performance of a new opera, The Emperor’s New Waltz, at the Salzburger Landestheater. She received the score that morning and performed it that evening from the loge with the assistant director walking through the role onstage. The composer was in attendance and was blown away that she could learn the challenging score so quickly.