Posted on 12/11/2006 10:47:30 AM PST by Zakeet
MILAN, Italy - Tenor Roberto Alagna marched off the stage at La Scala when the audience booed him during the second performance of Franco Zeffirelli's "Aida." He was replaced seconds later by his understudy, who rushed on wearing jeans.
"I do not deserve this kind of reception," Alagna told La Repubblica newspaper after his early exit from Saturday night's performance.
[Snip]
Thursday night's opening of Zeffirelli's "Aida" was a much-anticipated event, with Italian Premier Romano Prodi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel among the many prominent figures in attendance.
[Snip]
"In many years at La Scala I had never seen anything like what happened tonight," (the Conductor) Chailly told reporters after the performance.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Usually an understudy knows before the opera starts if he/she will be singing the role. It's pretty rare to have an understudy called on in the midst of a performance.
Weird.
Italians tend to be an uncivil lot. If I were in charge of La Scalla I would have the booers grabbed and booted out of the hall, and never have them allowed back in. You don't like the performance, fine. Just walk out and maybe even ask for a refund.
Well, if the performance has already started and is underway with the contracted singer, I guess the understanding is that the understudy is not really needed for the night. Usually understudies get called up to action, so to speak, when the first-string singer gets sick or something. This usually happens BEFORE the performance. ;-)
LOL - Giovanni Jones! My favorite operatic tenor of all time! :-)
Oh no..... this is part of the charm of the Italian opera experience, doncha know. It's part and parcel of the traditional La Scala performances to boo an underperforming singer!!! ;-)
Roberto Alagna Storms Offstage of La Scala's Aida
Angela Gheorghiu may be the current opera star most known for diva-like behavior, but it's her husband who has just thrown a diva fit.
Roberto Alagna, the tenor lead in the wildly popular new Aida that opened La Scala's season last week, stormed off the stage and out of the house after his first aria in last Saturday night's performance (December 9) was booed by some of the audience.
According to the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera and various other media reports, Alagna completed the famous "Celeste Aida" to some hisses and boos amidst the usual applause. The tenor was seen to shake his fist at the audience at the upper balcony (where the notoriously vocal "loggionisti" sit, and where the hissing started); he then stormed off the stage and out of the theater. Understudy Antonello Palombi had to be rushed onstage in street clothes, amid cries of "vergogna!" ("Shame!") from the balcony, so that Act I could be completed without interruption.
"I do not deserve this kind of reception," La Repubblica quoted Alagna as saying after he left the theater.
Palombi went on to complete the rest of the opera (in costume) to general applause; La Scala general and artistic director Stéphane Lissner came on stage before Act III to "express regret for the incident which happened during Act I" and to "thank Antonello Palombi, who generously took the stage so as to allow the opera to continue without interruption." Alagna's name was conspicuously absent from the announcement.
The Associated Press quotes conductor Riccardo Chailly as saying after the performance, "In many years at La Scala I have never seen anything like what happened tonight."
In one of several indignant interviews he has given since the incident, Alagna told Italy's Tg5 television network (as quoted by the AP), ""What else could I do? Did I have to stay there ... until my voice broke?
"I don't think that all the people — the chorus, the orchestra, the managers of La Scala — were lying when they told me that I was singing beautifully," he continued.
The next performance of the opera is tomorrow night, with the second cast scheduled to take their first turn in the new Franco Zeffirelli production. As of this morning, Alagna is still listed on La Scala's website as singing on December 14, 17 and 22, with the Radames for December 19 "to be determined."
Good thing the audience didn't burn the place down. It was recently remodeled.
Musicians do not like them. They sell well, so they get invited back (much to the disdain of the musicians). After this dust-up, maybe this will change.
Remember Kathleen Battle? Everyone HATES her because she is a snobby diva. One orchestra hated her so much that when her concerts were over, they wore "I Survived The Battle" t-shirts!
What if the star got hit with a sandbag!?
I don't know why you broke up with your former beau, but the thought of carrying that name for the rest of my life would have been enough to give me second thoughts! LOL Can you just imagine the teasing your children would have to withstand in elementary school?
ping
I have a DVD of Don Giovanni with Battle as Zerlina. While I'm very aware of her outrageuos behavior, I've always considered her quite the hottie...
Alagna may have just joined some stellar company.
There is a story that Franco Corelli went after somebody who was heckling him -- carrying the sword he was using on-stage.
And Enrico Caruso was booed in Naples, near his home, and never returned to sing there.
And Kathlleen Battle is hot, and sings beautifully. Too bad she's a PITA.
The tenor was apparently healthy. Nothing else than a heart attack could get a normal person to yield his part. Of course, musicians are a tense bunch sometimes.
We need to get a retired judge to broker a deal!
She's also a very boring performer. Her Zerlina is so lifeless. Pretty voice, but no character behind it.
Anyway, according to an Italian article the tenor said earlier that the audience wasn't passionate enough for him, so they had to prove him wrong. Also, according to Renee Fleming, getting booed at La Scala is like a rite of passage for singers.
At any rate, he shouldn't have walked off.
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