Rolando Out Of At Least Two Elisirs At The Met; Gheorghiu Called It Two Weeks Ago

The same old song (aria?):

Massimo Giordano will sing the role of Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore on March 31 and April 4 matinee, replacing Rolando Villazón, who is suffering from laryngitis. Villazon plans to return for performances on April 8, 11, 15, and 18.

Angela Gheorghiu, always tactful, had called this latest vocal problem of the laryngitis-prone Mexican tenor in an interview with The Independent's Jessica Duchen more than two weeks ago:

I sing with Rolando I hope everything goes fine [crosses self]

She then apparently made a point of scooping the Met itself by speaking aloud of Villazon's imminent, then-unconfirmed pullout, as big sister la Cieca reported yesterday.

Comments

[Hal]

How old is Rolando? Why not take a couple years off, singing nothing, and see if he can get his voice back. Why keep at it in this condition?

[Donna Anna]

Mio Rolando is Risky Business incarnate. It's not the end of everything but if ever a sabbatical was called for, now is the time. A long sabbatical, to get a handle on technique and material.
Sad.

[Casual Opera Fan]

With all the respect due to Gheorghiu (and after all, she has a big career, some respect is due), it doesn't take any particular skill, talent or insight to have predicted Villazon's defection from the Met Elisir!! Legions of casual opera fans have seen - and heard - it coming for a long time!

On the other hand it would have been a lot classier on her part to not allude to his issues at all.

But then when does one expect class behavior from her!!!

[Mike]

oh, it's all about Angela again. Now she's unprofessional even when Rolandino quits? I bet she's behind all the evil. Maybe she's also force-feeding Netrebko.

[Constantine A. Papas]

La Draculetta is known to be obnoxious. Her toxic comments come out of envy and insecurity. She thrives on others' misfortunes. She has put Netrebko down as the most "overrated" soprano. AG's cancelations make more news than her singing.

[A Real Cad]

Villazon should sue his handlers for malpractice. Gheorghiu's manners have always been terrible, nothing to see here, move along.

[Constantine A. Papas]

Rolando Villazon is 36. See my comments on parterre box. La Cieca thinks that he is finished, and she may be right.

[Les Mitchell]

This is very bad, but I was kind of expecting this to happen. My gut is that he won't appear in "L'Elisir" at all. The guy is only 37 and is experiencing all of these vocal problems. I agree with Donna Anna: he should take a very long operatic leave, appearing perhaps once in a while on a talk show, possibly singing a light pop song every so often, etc. He obviously needs to rebuild something that was obviously not correctly constructed to begin with. To keep signing contracts only to cancel beforehand can only bring disaster. I feel so bad for him, but hopefully he can fix this. Gheorghiu has absolutely nothing to do with any of this, and to put her into this mix is absolutely nuts. This something for which she is most decidedly NOT responsible.

[Xtian]

Angela need worry about her cancelations not Rolandos, she is always going away before the end of her contract to do recitals that make her more $. What if other singers begin make fun of her and her joker husband? She need care of her own family not make fun of Rolando.

[Allegro Penseroso]

Villazón is so messed up!

[young opera fan]

Perhaps some will dismiss this as 'naive' or unlikely but judging this situation from, perhaps a "commercial" or public point of view (I'm not entirely sure of how to phrase it) it seems this was all premeditated in order for Villazon to avoid the pressures of the first two performances (although canceling the second performance does seem rather odd) when he and everyone at the Met knows people will be scrutinizing every single note that comes out of his mouth (especially the detractors) so maybe he and the Met wanted to avoid a scandal in case the pressure and the nerves got to him causing him to breakdown or something...maybe they are giving him more time to prepare...though the best thing for him would be to just go out there and sing the role because quite frankly he does have something to prove and in his recent interviews seems to be in a little bit of denial..just putting it out there and no I am not denying he has some sort of vocal issues, although I haven't seen him live, and of coarse the more likely possibility is that he is sick (the immune system does lower its defenses when under tremendous stress which I'm sure he is at this time) but I wouldn't go so far a to say that he is finished, because if this was the case I don't think he would have gotten through as many Werther performances as he did although things do look very uncertain for him at this point, so we shall see...I personally wish him the best and hope that he is brave enough and honest with himself enough to face reality or if reality is that things are not as bad as some make it out to be that his singing will prove that, and if the best means taking some time off from singing then so be it, especially from that almost over-packed schedule of his.

[Linda Smith]

La Gheorghiu is quite right about Netrebko.

[vick]

Ah, for the good ole days when one feared the flu season cancellations at the Met...

[maguy]

This is sad news for me. Can't get over the fact he is so talented and yet careless about his energy which is not endless. Why did he appear in that lousy tv show, what a waste of his precious time! He was so at it in lensky, Hoffmann and Werther (I saw him on the 3rd).Yes, he should take care now, with all my respect and admiration.

[Casual Opera Fan]

I do no think AG really cares much about opera performances.

To her opera is just the "grounds" to remain a star and do the more lucrative things. I don't think she really cares about maintaining a serious opera career if it were not for the other stuff anyway.

Also obviously OC was being a bit catty and having a little fun at AGs expense. Can you really blame her? It's so tempting!!!!

[ellie]

Doen't he and his manager realize that chronic (or intermittently chronic) laryngitis is just not believable? Why not just admit he is having vocal problems? But as far as taking a leave, the problem is, he already did take a leave...and he was healthy for about five minutes after that. His voice is clearly permanently messed up, but (and I hate to say it), it is no surprise. He has a tiny voice which he was forcing into big bel canto roles. No one had ever heard of him and suddenly he was bigger than Pavarotti, sexier than Domingo...clearly nothing but hype (something which a lot of us knew from the beginning). Trebska has only gotten away with it better because she has a bigger, meatier voice, but I predict similar problems for her in the future (especially given her recent catastrophe at the Met).

[Les Mitchell]

Am doing another post on this subject because I feel so sad about this. Is it possible that he's going through some kind of psychological problem which has manifested itself in acute anxiety?
All of that energy he exhibits on interviews, etc, may be a symptom of something. Despite the dismal postings on some sites, I am not convinced that his voice is damaged beyond any hope of repair. Still, he needs some help - both vocal, professional, and psychological --------and he needs it NOW!

[Archaeopteryx]

That La Draculetta is evil, we know already often enough. But this time it seems that she was right - we should really worry about Rolando. Perhaps he should stop this silly folk music and TV show row and sing only things which support his voice and not his show-buisiness image. Maybe he should change the soprano partner from Netrebko to La Nata. She also could give him good tips how to care about the voice after a vocal crisis...
Cheers Archaeopteryx
PS. Bye the way, I think about Netrebko as AG does. La Draculetta is right sometimes.

[Casual Opera Fan]

I think there ARE times when laryngitis can screw a singer over for an entire season especially if it started with a chest congestion or bronchitis - you get it once, you rush the cure to make an engagement, it still isn't' quite right, it keeps popping up and hounding you, to accommodate it you start to pick up a few bad habits that linger - and you end up with a bad season.

BUT I don't think that is Villazon's problem in this case, unfortunately.

[lusciousbobby]

Villazon's spirit was broken by the mysterious breakup of the partnership with Anna. I have hunches about what happened between them, but I'm keeping them to myself. Villazon may well be finished. His problem now is that his confidence is shattered, and this is very hard to recover from. Even if he can deliver the sound you can see he's become timid and hesitant in performance.

Anna didn't do herself any favor with the breakup, either. This wonderful couple was far greater than the sum of their parts, and now all we're left with are some damaged parts. Anna appears to be in shock since the birth of the baby. They were the most lovable and endearing couple I've ever seen in opera, but that's over now. Thankfully many great clips survive on YouTube so those of us who loved Anna and Rolando's duets can continue to enjoy them.

Oh, add me to the list of those who dislike Angela G. I saw her live this season and found her listenable but nothing more. Her opinions do nothing to make her more likable.

[lusciousbobby]

I just caught up on the last 2 weeks of OC's wit and insight, during which I saw the clip of Villazon on Wetten Dass. He certainly didn't look hesitant or timid in that performance so perhaps he's getting himself back together. Then again, he might be compensating for his emotional pain with excessive over the top ebullience.

He handled the Handel really well, but then I read in the comments that it was pre-recorded and lip-synched. That's not necessarily bad, but it's also not particularly honest since he's working with a net, so to speak. The engineers can easily repair mistakes of all kinds. But the voice was full, rich and strong to my ears, tv audio limitations notwithstanding.

Villazon can come back.

[maguy]

I hope so ! got tickets for Handel Paris recital on the 5th of may!
And I am sure that both Anna and Rolando will be back on stage !
(next season in Paris and the Met too! ) Let's hope for the best for
the two of them, they are generous artists !