{"id":939376,"date":"2026-10-19T23:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T23:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/939376\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T23:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T23:50:10","slug":"calgary-opera-replaces-performer-who-unfurled-palestinian-flag-during-tosca-bow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/939376\/","title":{"rendered":"Calgary Opera replaces performer who unfurled Palestinian flag during Tosca bow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 2 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The Calgary Opera has replaced a performer who unfurled a Palestinian flag during the curtain call of the political opera Tosca.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the bass singer Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega held up the flag at the end of Giacomo Puccini’s drama about love and betrayal during political upheaval in Napoleonic Rome.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued Sunday, the Calgary Opera called the action “unexpected and unauthorized,” adding that individual political protest violated company policy. <\/p>\n

The institution apologized for the “discomfort and distress” some may have felt and said Sanchez-Ortega’s role will be performed by another artist for the remainder of the shows.<\/p>\n

Sanchez-Ortega played a character named Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner.<\/p>\n

In a post to Instagram, Sanchez-Ortega wrote that he had “no regrets” and that “this is the state of cultural institutions in Canada.”<\/p>\n

The Calgary Opera and Sanchez-Ortega did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

In its statement about the Oct. 16 performance, the Opera said individual political protest contravenes its “responsibility to create a more connected, caring and civil society through shared artistic experiences.”<\/p>\n

Sanchez-Ortega said he holds no resentment.<\/p>\n

“After the theatre, [political or otherwise] we all have to go home, and look at ourselves in the mirror,” Sanchez-Ortega continued in his statement.<\/p>\n

“It was my honour to play the role of Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":939377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75],"class_list":["post-939376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=939376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/939376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/939377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=939376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=939376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=939376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}