Classical music concerts don’t always go off without a hitch. Here are the ‘Wrong Notes’ featured in Limelight Magazine in 2019.

Less than animated

Maria CallasMaria Callas in hologram form. Photo © Evan Agostini/Base Hologram

Critics weren’t especially taken by Callas in Concert – The Hologram Tour when it opened in London in November, with Anna Picard of The Times dishing out one star. She dubbed the show “an almost necrophiliac mission” and a “Las Vegas affair”. Worst of all? Hologram Callas had clearly been programmed to receive much applause, of which there was miserably little in the hall.

Two for the price of one

At an evening honouring Jessye Norman held in Brooklyn, New York last December, the soprano was asked during a Q&A session what it felt like getting trapped inside the stage pyramid during the world premiere of Antony and Cleopatra at the Metropolitan Opera. The great diva responded, “Oh dear, I was still in middle school. That was Miss Leontyne Price!”

Ritorna, vincitor

In a feat worthy of the Egyptian princess herself, the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky valiantly performed the entire role of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera in March with two cracked ribs. Responding to well-wishers on Twitter, Radvanovsky wrote “I have to say that once the adrenaline kicked in, the pain almost went away. And I SO love singing this role!”

Throw a jacket in the ring

A lawyer attacked a fashion designer during a performance of Wagner’s Siegfried at the Royal Opera House in March, a court has heard. It is understood that the dispute began when the complainant threw a jacket, belonging to the accused’s wife, to the floor, in order to occupy the seat it had been resting on. A summary trial begins early May. [In an update to this Wrong Note, the lawyer was recently found guilty of assault and will be sentenced in January.]

Facebook woes

Norwegian label Lawo Classics found themselves on the sharp end of Facebook’s flawed policing of inappropriate content this April when a post about one of its new releases was deemed sexually explicit and taken down. The album cover bore a vividly rendered depiction of fruit by Dutch master Jan Davidsz De Heem, and is yet to be reinstated.

Dreyfus affair

Opening night of Opera Australia’s Rigoletto in Melbourne saw drama both on stage and off when composer George Dreyfus used a megaphone to express his frustration about how the company had commissioned but never performed his 1970 opera The Gilt-Edged Kid. Dreyfus was eventually removed by venue staff after delaying the performance start by 15 minutes.

Bow explosion

Cellist Zoë Martlew got rather more than she bargained for during a performance of Juliana Hodkinson’s highly challenging ‘noise piece’ Scrape. A minute into the performance, the hair attached to her bow came dramatically unstuck after a big up-bow, becoming knotted in the cello’s tuning pegs and necessitating a break in the performance.

Diva dashes hopes

Audiences who had forked out big bucks to see Anna Netrebko in a concert performance of Adriana Lecouvreur in Salzburg did not hide their disappointment when she pulled out at the last minute thanks to a cold. Their quiet grumbling turned into boos when it was announced that her co-star and husband, tenor Yusif Eyvazov, was also indisposed but would still be performing.

Diva has the last word

American soprano Kathryn Lewek has spoken out against critics who have drawn unnecessary attention to her body in their reviews of her appearance in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld at Salzburg. “I was really surprised several reviews used the word ‘buxom’… Don’t describe me with the same kind of words that you would describe a porn star,” she said.

Mutter lays down the law

An audience member who attempted to film Anne-Sophie Mutter’s performance with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in October got more than she bargained for when the violinist halted proceedings to ask her to stop. The exchange lasted several minutes until the audience member was eventually escorted out of the venue by the CSO’s president, to much applause.

Bottoms up!

Conductor Muhai Tang demonstrated his seemingly unshakeable composure when his pants fell down, revealing boxer shorts, during a performance with the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra in October. Without batting an eyelash, Tang quickly hoisted up his pants, continuing to conduct the orchestra who played on without missing a beat.

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