Ah, the diva anecdotes we can never tire of!
Romanian Soprano Angela Gheorghiu was singing the title role in a star-studded Viennese Tosca production at the Vienna State Opera opposite Jonas Kaufmann. During the performance, she missed her cue to enter the stage in the third act, the New York Times reports. As a consequence, Kaufmann just sat onstage and, after saying in Puccini-like recitativo “Non abbiam un soprano” (we don’t have a soprano)he had to break character and apologized to the audience in German. He finally got a cue that the opera could continue and Angela Gheorghiu joined shortly thereafter
So what happened?
At an earlier performance, he had been so acclaimed for the aria E lucevan le stelle that he graced the audience with a very rare encore of the aria. A similar behavior did not exactly meet ms. Gheorghiu’s approval, and, notwithstanding her annoyance, he did it again last Saturday.
https://youtu.be/NnT4QTdzP_I?t=3m58s
The official explanation provided by a spokesman for the opera house is that when ms. Gheorghiu found out that there would be an encore of E lucevan le stelle, she simply returned to her dressing room. However, unlike the previous performance, no pause for applause was provided, and that was the sole reason she was late.
So, do you think it was just a misunderstanding or that it was full-on diva behavior?