Bowing out of role in opera "Powder Her Face"

Nancy Gustafson has canceled her performance as the Duchess of Argyll in Opera Philadelphia's June production of Thomas Adès' Powder Her Face. The singer has been sidelined while recovering from emergency dental surgery, the opera company said.

Soprano/mezzo-soprano Patricia Schuman will take the part. She has sung Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera, Ilia in Idomeneno at La Scala, Alice Ford in Falstaff at Covent Garden, and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito at the Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals.

This will be Schuman's first outing in the role of the Duchess of Argyll. She was first contacted about the engagement three weeks ago. The opera runs June 7-16 at the Perelman Theater. Information: 215-893-1018, operaphila.org.

- Peter Dobrin