In a press release from her agent, IMG Artists, soprano Angela Gheorghiu apologizes to the Moscow audience for having cancelled her appearance with the ‘Queens of Opera’ concert series in the Russian capital « due to the failure of the concert promoter, Evgeny Wintour of Wintour Group International in fulfilling the financial clauses of its contract with the Artist. » Without giving any details about the financial issues, the press release continues: « It should be noted that Miss Gheorghiu flew to Moscow to participate in all preparations for the 11 June 2013 concert in good faith that the contractual obligations would be met by the promoter in time for the concert to go forward. »
Gheorghiu and her new lover, Romanian pop singer Cezar Ouatu (who, apparently, was going to participate in the concert), have written about the cancellation on their websites and facebook pages. Wintour, a financial advisory firm, has not commented the cancellation.
The Gheorghiu concert was part of the Wintour series ‘Queens of Opera’ which began in 2012 with a recital by Jessye Norman. ‘Queens of Opera’ is organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Other singers of the series are Maria Guleghina, Sumi Jo, Natalie Dessay, Waltraud Meier… A grand Gala Concert in the heart of the Russian capital at the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in 2014 will complete the project.