Vienna’s Figaro is saved by taxi dashes Operanorman lebrecht January 30, 2026Unlike Covent Garden, where the third act of Turandot was truncated when the designated tenor fell sick, the Vienna Opera has a taxi rank nearby to call in available singers in emergency. It has been busy lately with last-minute dashes. Some substitutes have also been called in from nearby sausage stands, barely managing to get fully dressed before they start to sing. During the interval, it initially seemed the performance would have to be cut short. But salvation was at hand: Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, the countess in the premiere run of the current “Figaro” production, was in town….