Stepping in for the Disney Hall concerts will be soprano Stacey Tappan; performing with Anu Komsi in London and Paris will be Cyndia Sieden, whose singing of the stratospheric role of Ariel in Thomas Ads's opera The Tempest has astounded critics and audiences in London and Santa Fe.
While the Philharmonic's announcement said only that Piia Komsi has withdrawn "due to illness," it seems likely that she is still suffering the aftereffects of a severe bout of appendicitis this summer. She had been set to play the Cheshire Cat in the world premiere production of Unsuk Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland under the baton of Kent Nagano in Munich, but she fell ill just before opening night and spent the run in the hospital. She later withdrew from her other main engagement of the summer, a September 1 performance of Morton Feldman's Neither at the Ostrava Music Festival in the Czech Republic.
According to a spokesperson for the Bavarian State Opera, Piia Komsi is still scheduled to sing in next month's revival of Alice in Wonderland, with performances on November 15, 17, 20 and 23.
