Stress and cancellations

Conductor Antonio Pappano, music director of Covent Garden, recently lashed out in The Guardian against today's singers who cancel at the drop of a hat. It is true that the Italian maestro has been exasperated by successive cancellations that have affected London performances of Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable. He quotes Placido Domingo saying "he would have had to be on his deathbed" to cancel.