It has been announced that tenor Jonas Kaufmann has withdrawn from singing the role of Enée in the Royal Opera House’s new production of Berlioz’s Les Troyens. Bryan Hymel, who recently performed the role for the Netherlands Opera, will replace Kauffman in the London production, directed by David McVicar and conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Kaufmann has been suffering from an infection since late April and has been forced to cancel performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and concerts in Europe.

‘I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment caused to my audience, and to the Royal Opera House,’ said Kaufmann. ‘I hope my decision will be respected as an act of responsibility towards myself and the audience. I am particularly sad not to be able to participate in the new production of Les Troyens, a project I have been looking forward to for many years.’

ROH director of opera Kasper Holten said: ‘It is never easy for a singer to make the difficult decision to cancel. However, sometimes it is inevitable. The Royal Opera is doing everything we can to avoid cast changes, and we are terribly sorry to disappoint our loyal audiences, who have experienced a number of very unfortunate high profile cast changes this season.’