Soprano Angela Gheorghiu Interrupts Colleague’s Encore in Korea

During a Tosca performance in Seoul, the soprano Angela Gheorghiu interrupted her colleague’s encore of his aria. The interruption drew ire from the opera’s audience.

Driving the news: On September 8th, the soprano Angela Gheorghiu interrupted tenor Alfred Kim’s encore of his aria during Puccini’s Tosca with the Seoul Metropolitan Opera. After the aria, “E lucevan le stelle,” Kim received such thunderous applause that conductor Jee Joong-Bae began a reprise. Gheorghiu stormed on stage, telling the audience: “Excuse me. It’s a performance. It’s not a recital. Respect me.”

Jee attempted to ignore Gheorghiu, but her gestures were so persistent he eventually stopped the orchestra and the encore, continuing the opera as planned. Gheorghiu’s behaviour prompted booing during her curtain call. Many fans asked for refunds and condemned Gheorghiu as disrespectful to Korean audiences.

The backstory: This isn’t the first time Angela Gheorghiu has reacted poorly to an encore. In 2018, she refused to re-enter the stage at the Vienna State Opera during a performance of Tosca after Jonas Kaufmann performed an encore. This prompted Kaufmann to sing to the audience, “non abbiamo un soprano…” before apologizing to the audience in German.

Gheorghiu’s management stated that Gheorghiu believes encores disrupt the integrity of a performance. They claim Jee Joong-Bae had assured Gheorghiu there would be no encores during Tosca, although apparently no formal agreement was made.

The tenor Alfred Kim has made headlines before, but for violent behaviour towards a woman. Gheorghiu famously accused her former husband Roberto Alagna of domestic violence. Who knows, maybe she didn’t like performing with Kim to begin with.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.