Thursday, January 22, 2009

Infidelio

It seems that tenor Jon Villars, who was meant to have sung Florestan in the Canadian Opera Company's production of Fidelio, has walked off because "he hasn't mastered the role".

Yikes.....what does one say to that?

The COC remains a source of drama, both on and off stage!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

From someone I talked to that was on stage when it happened, apparently Mr. Villars was not happy with conductor Gregor Buhl's tempi in the dress rehearsal.

Since when did you decide to get your facts from the Toronto arts media, notorious for both their panegyrics and fictions? ;)

Andrew W. said...

Really now? That's interesting...

Anon, as you can see, I was deliberately mute on the COC's take...I have to admit it sounded strange to me, which is why I said little!

At the same time, tempi aren't usually set at a dress rehearsal - and there would have been a sitzprobe with the orchestra.

It still seems odd to walk off like that during a dress rehearsal.

However, with your report, I suppose I am now actually part of the Toronto arts media!

Anonymous said...

it's also come out that Villars gave Buhl the double middle finger before storming off, which seems like ample reason for any company to end a working relationship in an operatic production.

Andrew W. said...

Anonymous, you're a treasure trove in COC gossip!

So if what you're saying is true, and I suppose none of us have any reason to disbelieve an anonymous blog comment, but it sounds as though Mr. Villars was a bit of a "bad egg".

And if you're the same anonymous commenter as before, as you are as close to a regular around here as has ever happened, you should come up with a name while you're commenting!