Angela Gheorghiu, the glamorous, gifted and famously temperamental Romanian soprano, has been fired by Lyric Opera of Chicago for unprofessional behavior and violation of her contract. She had been engaged to sing Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme, in a staging directed by Renata Scotto that opens on Monday, October 1. Lyric Opera announced the firing just a couple of hours before the production's final dress rehearsal this afternoon.

"Miss Gheorghiu has missed six of ten rehearsals, including the piano dress rehearsal and both staging rehearsals with the orchestra," said Lyric general director William Mason in a statement released by the company. "She missed one of the most critical stage-orchestra rehearsals when she left the city for New York without permission, a direct violation of her contract." (She was reportedly seen in the audience at the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday of this week, September 25, opening night of a run of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette starring her husband, Roberto Alagna.)

In addition, according to the company statement, Gheorghiu refused to attend fittings for the new costumes which she herself had demanded.

"It is with tremendous regret and sadness that we are compelled to take this action," Mason continued, "but Miss Gheorghiu's actions have shown total disregard for Lyric Opera's dedicated personnel and for her fellow artists. Were we to accommodate Miss Gheorghiu's behavior, we would be doing so at their expense, and at the cost of undermining Lyric's commitment to our patrons to produce only finely crafted performances of impeccable quality. We cannot and will not make those compromises."

The soprano's spokesperson has been unable to reach her and has no comment as yet.

Elaine Alvarez, Gheorghiu's understudy, will take over Gheorghiu's dates, singing Mimi on Oct. 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 and  16 - making her Lyric Opera debut. (Serena Farnocchia will portray Mimм as scheduled in the five November performances.) A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and a former resident artist at Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts and Marilyn Horne's Music Academy of the West, Alvarez is a company member at Oper Leipzig, where she has sung Violetta, Mimм and Pamina, among other roles. In 2006, Alvarez created the role of the Comtesse de Breville in the world premiere of Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good, or the Passion of Boule de Suif at Glimmerglass Opera.

By Matthew Westphal