A tenor urgently crosses the Atlantic to attend the birth of his first child!

While he was called at the last minute to replace Jonas Kaufmann at La Scala in Milan, the American tenor had to make a short return trip to New York to welcome his first born.

At the end of November, a few days before the premiere of The Force of Destiny by Giuseppe Verdi which opened the season at La Scala in Milan, Jonas Kaufmann, who was to play the role of Don Alvaro, withdrew for family reasons. The management of the Teatro alla Scala then called on Brian Jagde who arrived just in time to take part in the rehearsals.

But, while he had sung during the first two performances on December 7 and 10, the American tenor also had to leave the production temporarily but for a very good reason. His partner, Jenna Wolf, due to give birth earlier than expected to the couple’s first child. Brian Jagde therefore went to New York, where he lives, to attend the birth of his son, a photo of which he published on social networks.

Italian tenor Luciano Ganci replaced Brian Jagde during his brief paternity leave

In the message accompanying this photo, the happy dad thanks everyone who sent him congratulatory messages and announces that he will be back in Milan to perform the performances on December 19 and 22. To replace him on December 13 and 16, those responsible for La Scala were able to count on Luciano Ganci, initially scheduled to sing the last two performances at the end of December and the beginning of January.

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The Italian tenor thus joined Anna Netrebko, Fabrizio Beggi and Ludovic Tézier and the La Scala orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly on the Milan stage. The question now is whether Brian Jagde will be present, as announced, on December 25 and 28 in Seoul where he will sing in Turandot or rather near his partner and his son in New York where he is due to perform from January 9 to 23 at the Met Opera in Tosca with Sondra Radvanovsky under the direction of Yannick-Nézet Séguin.

Philippe Gault