Villazón postpones Carter premiere due to illness

10 April 2013, 11:04 | Updated: 10 April 2013, 11:18

The star Mexican tenor was forced to withdraw from a concert in Berlin on Monday night, after struggling with a week-long cold.

German concert-goers were left disappointed after tenor Rolando Villazón was forced to leave the stage of the Berlin Staatsoper on Monday night. After singing two Mozart arias, he was due to perform a suite of six songs by Elliott Carter, A Sunbeam's Architecture, but had to postpone the work's premiere until Tuesday night at the Philharmonie, when he returned to the stage.

Conductor Daniel Barenboim apologised to the audience, explaining that Villazón had been suffering from a cold for the past week. Audience members were compensated with a CD of the Carter, recorded earlier that day.

Villazón has struggled with vocal problems in the past, and had a cyst on his vocal cords surgically removed in 2009. Since his comeback he has performed across the world in prestigious venues such as the Opéra de Lyon, Vienna State Opera, and the Royal Opera House.