Breaking: Now Calleja quits Bayreuth
OperaIn a miserable run of cast changes, Bayreuth has been forced to replace the Maltese star Joseph Calleja as Parsifal.
Andreas Schager will switch over from the Flying Dutchman. His replacement will be announced shortly.
Calleja says: ‘Due to a persistent throat infection, I was advised by my doctor to withdraw from the current production of Parsifal here in Bayreuth. Goes without saying that this was a very hard decision to take, and I am so sorry for disappointing those of you who were looking forward to seeing me in this great opera and historic venue. I take this opportunity to wish all the best to all of my colleagues and the production team for a great first night!’
That’s a pity. I don’t think I have ever know so many cast changes everywhere. Is it still a residual problem from Covid?
No but you’re getting closer…
Many who are not even singers are getting similar or have an underlying medical condition. And, yes, Covid is still here. But for a singer, it is just deadly. A violinist geys a cold, hes still got his Strad whayever ablut a sore throat and a runny nose. People just being plain unkind and expecting singers to be turn out tunes like robots from their armchairs, only encourage more and more singers to cancel – even more so than ever with the advent of the internet and blogs, proclaiming they are experts.
Yes Joe, singing German is more difficult than you thought it was going to be.
that has absolutely nothing to do with it. The announced reason is the truth. Stop being nasty.
Any ‘covert intelligence’ about the new production, which part of the audience can wear AR glasses for a ‘heightened experience’? The stage direktor is said to be in the mold of Castorf.
Nomen est omen – isn’t his name Scheiß?
This year’s Bayreuth could be my last, from recent history of the festspiele
I don’t see why this would be considered miserable. Just about all the cast changes Bayreuth has announced this season seem to be upgrades: Garanca/Gubanova for Semenchuk as Kundry; Schager for Calleja; Volle for Lundgren; Assyonzi for Magee; etc.
seems to be a severe case of Alagnaritis
I don’t think anybody could have anticipated this…
Mediocre festival having mediocre luck. Maybe drop the Wagner family for true management talent, cut back tax subsidies, reduce the number of abominable productions, and either consistently hire great singers or cut the season if all you have is me-too casts.
sorry guys this has to do with the awful management of Bayreuth nowadays as it was when Alagna was announced to sing Lohengrin etc etc
Even earlier they wanted Denoke singing Brunhilde
why you think there are tickets available for most of the shows? After so many mediocre years people have understood that Bayreuth was run down by Katharina Wagner – just a handful idiots among most critics haven’t got it yet and hardly any of those have any knowledge
That’s the truth and sorry for being so bluntly
There are no tickets available for most of the shows. What is “available” are anecdotal tickets by professional online ticket buyers, who bet on reselling them for huge profits.
something that was to be expected
Do we attack footballers when they can’t play due to sickness or injury? Why, then, are singers always so vilified when they succumb to the enormous physical demands placed upon their relatively tiny, and constantly vulnerable vocal chords? It is such a nasty attitude to take. Singers are no different to athletes in that regard. In fact, all musicians are subject to the risk of physical up and downs. With singers, however, they are not just the players of their instruments, they ARE their instruments. A pianist may wake up feeling tired, but the piano hasn’t changed overnight, developed a cold, or reacted to an allergy. Could we please have some respect for that vulnerability in this community of supposed music lovers. I went through a non-singing related vocal cord microsurgery at 22, in my second year at Guildhall. I know just how delicate the vocal system is, and how psychologically affecting it is to depend for your livelihood on two primitive folds of muscle, cartilage and muscosa. Please, be kind and show respect to these great singers.
It definitely isn’t because his poor technique has come to call (Villazon anyone…?)
He was miscast, period.