San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley has fired soprano Hope Briggs before the opening night performance of Don Giovanni because she it not suitable for the role of Donna Anna. Mr. Gockley only wants the best for this company and in that regard he has my full support. I was at the Wednesday dress rehearsal and it was a painful afternoon in listening to Hope Briggs. He is correct. She is not suitable for the role and now it pains me to see people are trying to play the race card in this matter. Those people need to grow up. They also need to understand the musical values involved with opera singing and that not all voices are the same and singing opera is not the same as singing hymns in church on Sunday. It takes far more than just lovely tones of which Ms. Hope has plenty but singing Mozart makes demands that she is not suited for, at least not at this stage of her career. I will be at tonight's performance and hope that Ms. van den Heever (another young singer) has got what it takes. If not, Messrs. Gockely and Runnicles could both be in deep do-do over this one however I hope that this will have a happy ending.
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P.S. (6-June-07)
The replacement for Hope Briggs was wonderful. Mr. Gockley made the right choice. Thank you.