The baritone was to be accompanied by his wife, Carolyn Maule, in works including Debussy's Fê_tes galantes. Instead, Bayrakdarian and her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian, had the spotlight to themselves. They added two groups of songs and a solo piano work to the Schubert and Pauline Viardot groups they had initially planned to perform.

Bayrakdarian and Russell won their awards from the London Foundation, which supports young singers, in 2000 and 1994, respectively. They recently collaborated on a disc of Mozart arias, with tenor Michael Schade, released by CBC Records in January 2006.

Fortunately, Braun has resolved his visa problems and will be able to sing, as scheduled, at the 92nd St. Y on January 20. At that concert, where he shares the stage with the Tokyo String Quartet, the baritone will sing Schumann's Dichterliebe, with his wife at the piano. He will also sing Silvio in I pagliacci at the Metropolitan Opera on January 26 and 30 and February 3, 7, and 10.