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."
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!