The soprano Anja Harteros and her understudy both came down with the flu hours before the opening gala at La Scala on Friday night, forcing the Milan opera house to scramble for a replacement to sing the lead role of Elsa in Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” Reuters reported.
The theater announced that Annette Dasch would play the role, a part she has performed before at Bayreuth.
As if that weren’t its only problem, La Scala is also being criticized for choosing to open its season with Wagner rather than Verdi, a local hero.
“La Scala puts Verdi in a corner, preferring the German,’’ wrote Il Giornale newspaper, which is owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s family and is known for its attacks on Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
Corriere della Sera, another Italian newspaper, said there was unease among the musicians about the choice of Wagner in Verdi’s musical home, calling it “a blow to national pride in a moment of crisis.’’
But officials at La Scala dismissed the accusations, calling them ridiculous and pointing out that the house is staging six works by Wagner and eight by Verdi in its 2012-2013 season.