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Read on to discover some of classical music’s more strange and unexpected cancellations and no-shows…<\/strong><\/p> Tonight\u2019s concert is cancelled\u2019. It\u2019s the dreaded notice that can spell the end of a much anticipated evening. Often, no reason is given beyond the fact that the artist is \u2018indisposed\u2019. <\/p> At least the guitarist Milo\u0161 Karadagli\u0107 had the grace to plead his fans\u2019 forgiveness when he cancelled his concert at Bristol\u2019s Colston Hall in October 2016. \u2018It saddens me deeply to need to write these lines,\u2019 he wrote. \u2018Performing is all I live for. I would do anything to make the situation different, and am totally and utterly bereft by such news. I am unbending and adamant in my promise that I WILL be back on a stage near you.\u2019 His problem was a long-standing thumb injury and, to be fair to musicians, aches and pains, as much as colds and sore throats, are often the reason they are forced to cancel at short notice.<\/p> Often, that is, but not always. Sometimes, totally unexpected events can cause cancellations. At other times, sheer bloody-mindedness on the part of the musicians themselves is to blame. Below, we pick our way through some of classical music\u2019s strangest cancellations, from the opera singer terrified of being showered with knickers to the naked violinist who tried to strangle a pensioner…<\/p> Even the greatest names suffer cancellations, especially when the forces of mammon come into play. Early in 1802, Beethoven<\/a><\/strong> was looking forward to performing his new Triple Concerto at a benefit concert his brother Carl was organising. But then, out of the blue, the director of the venue cancelled. In a letter to his brother\u2019s publisher, Breitkopf & H\u00e4rtel, an angry Carl wrote, \u2018My brother would have written to you but is not in the mood for anything because the theatre director Baron von Braun, who is clearly an ignorant and rude man, did not allow him the theatre for a benefit concert and gave it to other, utterly mediocre artists.\u2019<\/p> The Metropolitan Opera\u2019s performance of Rossini<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s\u00a0William Tell\u00a0<\/em>in October 2016 had been going so well \u2013 right up until the moment a member of the audience walked up to the edge of the orchestra pit and, from a container concealed on his person, poured white powder into it. Fearing a chemical attack, the management evacuated the auditorium. In fact, they had nothing to fear. \u2018An individual from out of town indicated that he was here to sprinkle the ashes of a friend, his mentor in opera, during the performance,\u2019 said John Miller of the New York Police later.<\/p> When it comes to money, performers themselves can, of course, be just as single-minded. With a gambling addiction to support, the violinist Niccol\u00f2 Paganini<\/a><\/strong> couldn\u2019t afford to waste time performing for the odd florin. He needed to make serious cash \u2013 and he did, in the first three months of 1830 stashing around 88,000 florins in the bank, making 3,000 florins per concert. All was going well until, on 26 April, he gave a concert in Frankfurt that attracted a small audience and netted him just 600 florins. In September, it happened again in Cassel. \u2018It seems foreign artists are little regarded here,\u2019 he said, and promptly cancelled further gigs.<\/p>1. Strange concert cancellations… triple disappointment<\/h2>
2. Ashes to ashes<\/h2>
3. Strange concert cancellations… No pay, no play<\/h2>