Among those performances, Villazón has to cancel the performances of L'Elisir d'Amore with Anna Netrebko at the Opera Bastille, Paris in October 2009 and the performances of Les Contes d'Hoffmann with Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca and René Pape at the Met, New York in December 2009 and beginning of January 2010. According to his physician a full recovery could be expected at the end of the year. At this moment, we do not know if he will be able to sing in Idomeneo with Anna Netrebko at Palais Garnier, Paris in the performances running from the beginning of January till mid February 2010. Villazón's manager expects that he will be able to sing in Carmen with Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca and Ildebrando d'Arcangelo at the Wiener Staatsoper in May 2010.
Rolando has left the following message on his official website:
“Due to a cyst that has just been detected on one of my vocal chords I will very shortly have to undergo surgery. After the operation, there is a phase of rehabilitation and in order to make sufficient time for this, I have unfortunately had to withdraw from all of my performances until the end of the year. I would like to apologise to you, my wonderful audience, for any inconvenience these cancellations will cause you and want to express my gratitude for the loyalty and support of my audience, colleagues and friends. I am greatly looking forward to be performing again in the coming year. I will share any further information as and when it becomes available, so please do check this space.”The Met has released the following news flash:
Rolando Villazón
Rolando Villazon muss bis Jahresende pausieren, DiePresse.com 29. April 2009 [German]Villazón Withdraws from Hoffmann
April 29, 2009
Rolando Villazón has withdrawn from the title role in the Met’s new production of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, scheduled for December 3, 2009 through January 2, 2010. He announced today that he is undergoing throat surgery and expects to return to the stage in 2010. The Metropolitan Opera looks forward to his return in future seasons. A replacement for the role of Hoffmann will be announced at a later date
Pause bis zum Jahresende, derNewsticker.de 29. April 2009 [German]
Längere Zwangspause für Rolando Villazon, derStandard.at 29. April 2009 [German]
Karrierepause für Rolando Villazón, Vienna.at 29. April 2009 [German]
Villazon muss bis Jahresende pausieren, Oe24.at 29. April 2009 [German]
Rolando Villazón será operado de la garganta y suspende sus conciertos, Telecinco.es 29. April 2009 [Spanish]
This is extremely sad news, but we have all known for some time that there was a major problem with his voice. Let us hope the proposed treatment is a complete success, and that he will be back to his best when he returns in 2010. Needless to say we all wish him well, and a speedy and successful recovery.
ReplyDeletethere was not a major problem with his voice, there's a major problem with hIMSELF. Hyper kinetic he never ever let his voice recover or rest combined with too heavy roles and a not rocksure technique you get this. The guy needs to to shut up before and especially after performances. Just watch how the great mario del monaco took care of his voice, if rolando would have done the same he would still be singing marvelously, coz he has indeed a major vocal talent but sadly enough he abused it.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that anyone would disagree that he is (not was) a major talent and I'm very sorry that he now has this problem but it's not life or career threatening. My best wishes go to him for a complete recovery and for a switch from the vocal fast lane into a slower lane. He must learn to restrict his hyper-activity but we should not look to write him off just yet!
ReplyDeleteYes Ricci, he may well have been his own worst enemy in overdoing things, and needs to learn from his recent problems. However that should not stop us wishing him a speedy and complete recovery, rather than kick the poor chap when he is down. We should also not forget the pressures we fans place upon our favourites like Villazon and Netrebko, by endlessly clamouring for more and more performances. A sensible balance has to be struck.
ReplyDeleteThe Opera world without Rolando will be a far sadder place. So we should wish him well for a successful operation and a return of his wonderful lyric tenor voice. For the moment I will be listening to all his CDs and watching my large collection of DVDs and look forward to June 2010 when he WILL sing Manon at ROH.
ReplyDeleteYo lo único que le deseo es que se recupere y del todo para seguirnos entusiasmando como hasta ahora. Esperaba con ilusión este Elisir en Paris con Anna, no podrá ser, pero la vida es muy larga y seguro que tenemos otras oportunidades. Deseémosle lo mejor. ¡Animo!
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