Agence Massis Opéra, the agency working with Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan, responded to a press release which was issued by Semper Opernball.

In an earlier press release issued by Semper Opernball, the organizer of the concert, dismissed accusations against Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov and said there was no contract with Mantashyan.

The agency working with Mantashyan issued a statement saying Mantashyan had reached an agreement to perform during the concert.

“The "misunderstanding," which is alluded to in the press release, would like to attribute responsibility for this "conflict" to Agence Massis Opéra,” the statement reads.

“In reality, it would seem instead to relate to the relations between the various collaborators of this Association, directed by Dr. Hans-Joachim Frey.

Indeed, after a first written contact in September 2019 asking us for the availability of Miss Mantashyan for the date of the concert, the written exchanges continued, without any particular problem, to deal with the various usual elements of a negotiation - contact details, program, financial conditions, visa application, etc

After about 15 email-exchanges, the file seemed complete.

So there was a willingness on the part of the Semper Opernball to hire Ruzan Mantashyan for the concert on February 7.

On January 10, 2020, we received a last written message announcing the cancellation of Ruzan Mantashyan's participation, because Mr. Yusif Eyvazov did not wish to perform with her for the reasons mentioned in our first press release.

This may have created a very uneasy situation for the organizers, but we have no form of responsibility in the evolution of this situation, which is penalizing for our artist.

We do not doubt the SemperOpernball's respectability and its general openness towards artists of all nations and cultures.”