Kaufmann and Borodina pull out of the Met’s Japan tour

Two star singers have backed out of the Metropolitan Opera’s tour to Japan. The news is sure to stir dissatisfaction among some members of the company who have expressed worry over safety risks following the nuclear emergency in Japan caused by the March earthquake and resulting tsunami.

The Met said that Jonas Kaufmann withdrew from the title role of “Don Carlo” for “personal reasons” and that Olga Borodina would not sing the role of Eboli because doctors had told her to rest her voice for two months.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.