By JAMES R. OESTREICH [NY Times, 25 January 2006]

The first real news at the Mozart Week came on Tuesday, with the departure of the American soprano Renée Fleming. Ms. Fleming, who had been scheduled to join another American, the baritone Thomas Hampson, in the centerpiece concert with Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic on Friday evening, withdrew under circumstances that remain mysterious.