Placido Domingo withdraws from Paris production

Tenor Placido Domingo has cancelled his appearance in Wagner’s Die Walkure in Paris in April for lack of time to prepare, the Theatre du Chatelet said today.

A replacement has not yet been named for the performances, directed by Robert Wilson, the theatre announced.

“Unfortunately, my timetable does not allow me to be fully devoted to such intensive work. Rather than performing an approximation of (Wilson’s) conception, it is my duty ... to withdraw so that another singer, who will have more rehearsal time, can make that conception his own,” Domingo said in a statement released by the theatre.

According to Le Monde newspaper, the cancellation was not related to Domingo’s struggles with an inflamed windpipe, which caused him to step down from several performances at the New York Metropolitan Opera this month.

The Die Walkure production began last autumn with Peter Seiffert as Siegmund, the role Domingo was to play in April. The performance is conducted by Christoph Eschenbach.