Resonate

The show must go on, right? Like all employees, musicians frequently have to work when they’re not feeling well. They try hard to suppress coughs and sneezes while on stage, but sometimes they’re too sick to continue performing. Such was the case for tenor Vladimir Kuzmenko on Tuesday night.

Kuzmenko began to feel sick just before his scheduled performance in the leading role of Radames in the Pittsburgh Opera’s performance of “Aida.” The opera company arranged for the Metropolitan Opera’s Eduardo Villa to fill in for Kuzmenko, but Villa’s plane was delayed.

Kuzmenko successfully made it through the first three acts, but by Act IV he could not go on. And so the opera’s conductor, Antony Walker, saved the day, singing the tenor’s part from the pit while continuing to conduct the orchestra. Meanwhile, Kuzmenko acted the part – mute — on the stage.