“I have learned my lesson from the Bondy production,” Mr. Gelb said in a recent interview. Mr. Gelb engaged a gilded set of singers to populate the finery. Mr. Gelb, aware of Mr. Kaufmann’s history of no-shows, had already lined up Mr. Grigolo as a backup. Ms. Yoncheva, who has recently emerged as one of the Met’s true prima donnas, stepped in, cheering many operagoers. But Mr. Gelb said that he had never before had to recast all the leads in a new production.

Source: New York Times December 28, 2017 10:00 UTC