The numbers are in at the Erl winter festival in Tyrol and the backers are happy.
When the curtain dropped last night, 94 percent of tickets had been sold, more than ever before. What counted even more was that Kaufmann was able to summon world-famous jjump-ins when his original cast started coughing. When Kaufmann called, Jessica Pratt, Lisette Oropesa and Levy Sekgapane got on a plane.
This is Kaufmann's new career: managing other people's cancellations.
Also credited at curtain fall was the Israeli chief conductor Asher Fisch (pic).