Says the Met press office: “Yonghoon Lee will sing the title role in Don Carlo during the Met’s Japan tour, replacing Jonas Kaufmann, who has withdrawn for personal reasons. [Yeah, we knew that, but, wait, there’s another paragraph]….  Ekaterina Gubanova will make her Met role debut as Eboli in the same production, replacing Olga Borodina, who has been ordered by her physicians to take a two-month vocal rest.”

On the bright side, compared to the atmosphere in the Met’s front office this afternoon, nobody could ever call Japan “toxic.”

La Cieca

James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.

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