UPDATED! Start the coronation without me
La Cieca hears that Ruth Ann Swenson has withdrawn from her autumn performances of Agrippina at the New York City Opera.
This just in… “replacing” Swenson will be none other than the legendary Nelly Miricioiu! The Romanian diva assoluta is seen here in a 2003 performance of Anna Bolena.
Well…
I can hardly believe my eyes: Ruth Ann Swenson is out and Nelly Miricioiu is in? Wow. Miricioiu was NOT good in the recent Vespri at the MET, but she has done some GREAT work in the past. Aggripina is low (Della Jones sings it on the Gardiner recording), so perhaps it will work. One thing is for certain: Miricioiu, even toward the end of her career and in a compromised vocal estate, is still about 12 trillion times more interesting an artist than Swenson is or ever was. I agree with “rmp” – I may actually go and hear it now.
12 Trillion! My goodness, the units of “interestingness” must be very small things indeed. Has anyone here heard of the unit of beauty – the millihelen. Sufficiently beautiful to launch a single ship.
i wonder, how much does the NYCO pay compared to the met? i remember reading an article in opera news mag back in the 80s when sills got bumbry to sing at NYCO (medea and abigaille, i think) and the article sniffed, “for fees that would hardly pay her super…”
Okay, so according to the los Angeles Times, Swenson’s pull-out is due to increased recuperating time.
From an article in the Times earlier this month about Mortier’s takeover:
Mr. Mortier said he would seek to enlarge the budget, which the company said was $40 million, to $60 million. The extra money would go toward increasing the size of the orchestra to 85 players from nearly 70, adding rehearsal time, paying for costlier new productions and doubling the top fee for singers, to $7,000 per performance from $3,500. Leading singers at the Met can earn $15,000.
Perhaps Swenson does need recuperation time… But then why is she in the middle of rehearsals for Faust right now in Cincinatti, in the rehearsal room from 10 to 10 every day – and sounds fine…
Maybe the part is just not suited to her vocal talents and she decided to drop it.
Or maybe Gelb is eager to prove the world wrong about the NYTimes article, and had asked her NOT to sing for NYCO in exchange for which there is new a contract for her.
For justanother – the article I read today (6/04/07) made reference to an upcoming round of treatments that would require a longer recovery period. This is scheduled for later in the year and would cut into the rehearsal period for Aggripina.
operadirector,
that is indeed very sad. I had hopes that she had fully recovered – and that the Met was taking her back!
Where did you find this article?