Let’s Be Positive!

Good news: in about a year, Opera Australia will present Parsifal with the famous Heldentenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Now, the Varnished Culture has but two questions:

1. Will it be the whole opera or just a concertized flummery? And
2. Will Kaufmann make the trip?

We do not wish to cast nastersians, but in January 2016, Classicalite [http://www.classicalite.com/articles/36294/20160128/jonas-kaufmann-cancels-manon-lescaut-performance-met-opera-replaced-roberto-alagra.htm] reported:

“Jonas Kaufmann, in an unfortunate recurrence, has canceled his performances of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at the Metropolitan Opera. Filling in for Kaufmann is none other than fellow star, tenor Roberto Alagna…Details of Kaufmann’s illness are unknown but he did cancel performances earlier this year due to acute sinusitis.”

It has been whispered around the traps that Mr Kaufmann often announces, in a blaze of publicity, his availability for an exciting new series of cancellations.  Be that as it may, he’s worth it when he shows…time will tell.

[Update: The New York Times has recently (3 March 2017) reported that Mr Kaufmann has withdrawn from the forthcoming Tosca at the Met. The Times reported the Heldentenor as saying “I feel I cannot allow myself to have such long periods away from my family at this time.” Uh-oh…]