Similarly, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that Villaz‹n will not give any performances for the next two months due to illness and that three different tenors will fill in for him on this month's planned concert tour of Germany with Anna Netrebko (who has evidently recovered from her laryngitis and will perform).

Villaz‹n's health troubles, while not apparently life-threatening, are serious enough that he received warm expressions of sympathy from the Austrian press and from Salzburg Festival officials — even as they were publicly chiding Netrebko and other singers who pulled out of this summer's festival.

The Metropolitan Opera has Villaz‹n scheduled to sing the lead in Gounod's Rom_o et Juliette — opposite Netrebko, with whom he has a celebrated onstage partnership — in five performances from September 25 through October 11 (and another four between December 8 and 20). The Met has not yet formally announced Villaz‹n's withdrawal or who might replace him. (Matthew Polenzani is a possible candidate, as he is already booked to sing Rom_o in the final two performances of the run.)

No performances beyond this month are currently listed on Villaz‹n's official website.