{"id":2255547,"date":"2026-01-29T00:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2255547"},"modified":"2026-01-29T00:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T00:33:26","slug":"drama-at-the-opera-as-royal-opera-chief-steps-in-for-sick-tenor-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/drama-at-the-opera-as-royal-opera-chief-steps-in-for-sick-tenor-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Drama at the opera as Royal Opera chief steps in for sick tenor | Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In terms of drama at the opera, it will be difficult to surpass Tuesday\u2019s performance of Giacomo Puccini\u2019s Turandot after a tenor became unwell leading to a surprise substitution.<\/p>\n

A Royal Opera House<\/a> chief, dressed in a jumper, chinos and trainers, deputised in the lead role after French tenor Roberto Alagna, playing Prince Cal\u00e0f, became ill after the second act.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the adage the show must go on, Richard Hetherington, the theatre\u2019s head of music, stepped in during the performance in central London.<\/p>\n

The third act resumed after the character\u2019s showstopper aria Nessun Dorma was omitted, with Hetherington singing from the wings while the show\u2019s choreologist, Tatiana Novaes Coelho, covered his steps in costume.<\/p>\n

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<\/svg><\/span>Richard Hetherington was dressed in a jumper, chinos and trainers as he deputised in the lead role.<\/span> Photograph: PR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the improvisation led to some audience members booing, upset about missing out on Nessun Dorma, the Times reported.<\/p>\n

The Royal Ballet and Opera<\/a> (RBO) emailed audience members on Wednesday, explaining the \u201cexceptionally rare situation\u201d and offered them 50% of their ticket price in credit.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the RBO told the Times: \u201cRoberto Alagna was taken unwell during yesterday evening\u2019s [Tuesday\u2019s] performance of Turandot, which prevented him from completing Act III. We wish Roberto a swift and full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Roberto Alagna became ill after the second act and as the role of Cal\u00e0f is specialised, there was no cover.<\/span> Photograph: Tristram Kenton\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The writer Kenan Malik wrote on X: \u201cDrama at the opera tonight. During Turandot at Covent Garden, Roberto Alagna, playing Calaf, took ill and couldn\u2019t come out for act III. So, Richard Hetherington, ROH\u2019s head of music, but not a trained opera singer, gamely stepped in, to sing from the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he couldn\u2019t sing the main arias or duets. So, they began act III after Nessun Dorma. And ended before the final scenes, finishing at the point where Liu takes her life rather than reveal Calaf\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, disappointing, dramatic and a strangely appropriate ending all at the same time. And hugely brave and impressive of Hetherington to step in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hetherington, who is listed as the conductor for the schools\u2019 matinee performance of Turandot on 4 February, has performed the title role in the British premiere of Henze\u2019s Pollicino, Yniold in Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande and First Boy in Die Zauberfl\u00f6te, before making his conducting debut with La sonnambula in 2011.<\/p>\n

This is the 19th revival of Turandot which tackles the themes of love, fear, devotion, power, loyalty, life and death in a fantastical, fairytale version of imperial China.<\/p>\n

As the role of Cal\u00e0f is specialised, major opera houses will not typically have a cover standing by for every performance.<\/p>\n

In the current revival, the role of Turandot has been shared between Anna Netrebko, Maida Hundeling and Anna Pirozzi while Cal\u00e0f, the unknown prince is sung by Yusif Eyvazov, Arsen Soghomonyan and Alagna.<\/p>\n

Turandot was Puccini\u2019s 12th and final opera. The composer died aged 65 in 1924, leaving Turandot unfinished.<\/p>\n

He had written much of the third act, up to the death of Li\u00f9, but there were only sketches as to his thoughts on how the work should end.<\/p>\n

His student, Franco Alfano, wrote a completion that reprised the famous Nessun Dorma aria.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.theguardian.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In terms of drama at the opera, it will be difficult to surpass Tuesday\u2019s performance of Giacomo Puccini\u2019s Turandot after a tenor became unwell leading to a surprise substitution. A Royal Opera House chief, dressed in a jumper, chinos and trainers, deputised in the lead role after French tenor Roberto Alagna, playing Prince Cal\u00e0f, became […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2255548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2255547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Drama-at-the-opera-as-Royal-Opera-chief-steps-in.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2255547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2255549,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2255547\/revisions\/2255549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2255548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2255547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2255547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2255547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}