La Cieca returns, Alagna departs
Your correspondent is back in town just in time to report that Roberto Alagna walked out of tonight's performance of Aida at La Scala when his rendition of "Celeste Aida" was greeted by "qualche fischio" among the polite applause. The Corriere della Sera reports that Antonello Palombi was rushed onto the stage in "black jeans and t-shirt" to complete the act, but not before the audience cried, "vergogna, vergogna!" and "questa è la Scala!"According to Opera Chic, Alagna has retreated to his Milan hotel suite pursued by paparazzi. The tenor has been complaining of poor health for over a week; the first performance of this new production of Verdi's opera was on December 7.
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5:11 PM
119 Comments:
Well, at this point I've updated the Opera Chic blog with fresh statements from both Alagna and Lissner (GM of La Scala), that it might just be better to start at the root URL of my Opera Chic blog here and just read from the top. There's lots there!
(and even if Alagna said he'd never sing here at La Scala again, you can guarantee that he wouldn't be invited anyway...It's like when your boss fires you from work and you're all like, "You can't fire me because I QUIT"!!)
Ugh, I don't know what to think. On the one hand I pity the guy; on the other hand, he should grow some 'nads and get on with it. Take the booing as a challenge and confound expectations: étonnez-les! Quibbling aside, it's perfectly scandalous. And frankly, a tee-shirt and jeans is just the right antidote for that overstuffed, ridiculous looking Zef. production. I've seen the photos.
Good to have you back, La Cieca.
Welcome back Cieca Hope Florida sun restored your eyesight!
Why was Alagna singing Radames? He is much more suited for the Messenger!!!!His wife has a timbre more appropriate for Radames or was she essaying Brunnhilde in Paris?
Was at the Netrebko Boheme...what did y'all think? Domingo should stick to singing Puccini as he was a mess as a conductor!
Anderson Lucia. Fab! Hey Tenore. I saw it live guess who did it the next run (which I saw as well) DEVIA!
Couldn't agree more, newinnyc. Alagna is just not a Radames. I'd be astonished if Gedda or Kraus had sung it, for example, and I think he'd be much better off staying in that kind of repertoire.
Then again I never liked Gedda or Kraus much, so what do I know?
Yup, not a Radames. Not a Canio either, though it was a near-miss at LA Opera. Stick to Rodolfo and Cavaradossi, Werther on a good day, and the occasional Nemorino and Romeo.
So this makes TWO major houses Bobby is not singing at: The Met and La Scala. How will his career survive?
Pardon my ignorance here, but what's the gossip behind Alagna not singing at the Met anymore?? Did I miss one of La Cieca's posts?
Much as I adore Opera chic, her comments about the booing of Mr DOming's Bohemes:
"I mean, it's not a secret that he's unpredictable and sort of sucks as a conductor. Therefore, I find it inexcusable to leer like juvenile delinquents. Either sit patiently on you hands in a vacuum of applause, or exit before the curtain-call if you are really that indignant."
First of all: not all displays of booing are directed solely towards the artist; Often it is the only way an audience can get the attention of some artistic/management teams with no musical background, whose idea of innovative casting is to read reviews at the back of Opera News and cast by who got the highest percentage of nice comments.
Second: If Mr. Domingo has it written into his Met contracts that he must conduct so many performances in return for his singing engagements, he must be tough enough to take the boos with the bravos.
Baritenor, I'm sorry but I think you have it in reverse - it should be "Stick to Nemorino and Romeo with an occasional Des Grieux or Rodolfo." Cavaradossi and Werther are on the bigger side of things.
Neither Gedda nor Kraus ever sang Radames on stage...Gedda has recorded the aria and I believe both the trio, duet and final scene...but to my knowledge (as one of his greatest fans) he never sang the entire role - he even said, after having recorded his one and only Lohengrin, that it was a bit of a stretch for him and not something he would endeavor to sing again! Kraus was also far too intelligent to sing anything heavier than Hoffman and Cavaradossi - that's the reason why both men had extremely long and healthy careers - unlike all these 25 year old tenors who are rushing out to sing the Duke and Alfredo and Pinkerton and Hoffman everywhere they go - unless they are extremely young heldentenoren, it's most likely that they will do more damage than good to themselves singing that kind of repertoire.
How does Bob A's Aida walkout rank with Divina Maria's Rome walkout from Norma lo those many decades ago?
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i cringe as i say this but, i thought alagna will be appearing next season at the MET as Andrea Chenier. I cannot even fathom him singing radames, it's probably better for the audience that he walked out so they wouldn't have to endure his bleating. Didn't he perform it at the Orange also? Don't you think he should have gotten the message then.....
Let's just all be thankful that his "wife" was not singing the title role!
oh and what did people who heard think of urmana's aida? she's apparently singing it at the MET next season.
ljc you'd better tell us - I can't see any possible comparison. One is a Godess - the other is very mortal. :)
Thanks goodness you're back. Hope you had a lovely trip.
Now, does this surprise anybody that Alagna didn't deliver on Radames? Not a shock to me. Beautiful man beautiful voice but not a Radames.
ITdCS-
Yes, I know, but my thought process was that Bobby is really ideal in the middle-weight range...I've found him a bit heavy for Romeo and Nemorino, and just right as Rodolfo and Edgardo... on a good day he has a nice beefy quality that serves him well in those roles.
Urmana's Aida, btw: Killer. I love everything that woman does. And who the hell is that Mezzo?
Alagna appears to be persona non grata at Covent Garden at the moment, too.
Gert
I am sure it is no secret that Bobby and the wife have pissed many a theatre off. Why do they keep hiring them? It is the audiences or at least the people on this forum that should be booing! Remember high art and all my a-- Remember, they walk home with a paycheck for this. Cathartic experience aside...they are laughing to the bank. Make a statement, write a letter. Erratic behavior is overlooked when the artist is good and even that is pushing the envelope. Watched a part of a documentary on Sills yesterday and she was sitting there with her Boston accent saying how her fees are too high for Mr. Bing and she wants productions staged for her...SHE SUCKED!!!! They played excerpts of her singing and I think only her children enjoyed hearing her!!!!
If Cheney wants torture to work, he should play her recordings at Gitmo!
Tenore-I was at a Sherrill Milnes masterclass years ago and he told a story about standing in the wings for an Aida to hear Gedda sing Celeste Aida and he was talking about how incredible it was as he did the B-flat at the end as written in the score (ppp). Did not say where it was!
Anyway have a great day!
well what to say ... once you burn all your bridges there is definately no way back. even though i do not agree with booing, i find it quite overreacting to walk out - and it is dismissive of ones colleagues as well. obviously alagna does have no interest whatsoever in the people around him - or even in the parts of the audience who might have come especially to see him. if one can't take criticism one should not sing. one for the vaults i suppose....
on a different note, i was close to booing the latest carmen production at the royal opera house. zambello has assembled a piece of cluttered crap, fullon with horse, donkey and chicken. i wish she had spent some time in presenting the opera as gripping rather than showy. its was a glossy piece of zeffirelli-like candied waste. and it was a waste for both anna caterina antonacci and jonas kaufmann who were both excellent!
Sills was from Brooklyn or thereabouts. If she ever had a Boston accent, which I never noticed, it would have been an affectation for her.
Ah, Sills. It's a little hard to remember now the how's and why's of her enormous notoriety.
One of the things I learned a long time ago in relation to success in any field is that it takes a constellation of abilities (and of course, luck). In the case of a world class performer (star), it involves physical stamima, the ability to project to an audience, that quality needed for an audience to project on the singer, intelligence, a distinct sound, solid musicianship (or a solid support staff), and of course, the voice.
When you look at Sills, she had enough of those qualities, plus killer political instincts (check out the Peter Davis book to see what she did to Phyllis Curtin), and a LOT of luck....
Her musicianship always made the strongest impression on me. I actually never heard her live when she was in even decent voice, so I can't testify to any vocal quality...
Welcome back, Cieca Dear. We are waiting for all the pics of beachboys in thongs.
I listened to the Dec 7 "Aida" webcast and I didn't like the "Celeste Aida." I didn't like any of Alagna's performance. But at least he sang the whole thing that time.
I just listened to the Met Sirius "Puritani" with Gruberova and Merritt. I attended one of the performances way back when. This sounded a lot better than I remembered it in the house. (I remember someone during the first intermission playing his just-recorded cassette of Merritt's "A te o cara" while standing at a urinal and cackling fiendishly over the high notes.)
Now I'm worried about the upcoming Met performances with Netrebko and Cutler. I doubt if she can do it, and I know nothing about him. What do people know? Does he have the high notes? Does he have the sauve legato? Exactly how butchered will this latest performing edition be? (Richard "Perform it complete and add lots of stuff I found in Naples" Bonynge allowed some rather bizarre cuts in this Gruberova-Merritt version.)
The Sutherland-Pavarotti-Bonynge recording includes a long and magnificent part of the duet in the last act that I had never heard in other recordings. This should be the version for the upcoming performances at the house. I heard Cutler only twice: in the Broadcast of "La juive", when he sang very well, even with all the C´s and the D in the first act serenade, and last season´s Tamino, which personally I liked a lot. So, he may not be the issue in the performances of "I puritani", but Netrebko is another thing. Only the idea of hearing her "Vien, diletto" frightens me...
About Sills-Sounded Bostonian. She and Roberta Peters could sing a duet "Anything you can sing, I can sing worse!"
Booing-Why not?! Let's spice it up! They are not up there singing for charity. Maybe we should list in the program how much each of them is getting paid for that night. They are professionals not gods beyond reproach. I think the Italians have the right idea! Especially if they act like total monsters behind the scenes! Believe me, I will be at Boccanegra in 07 and if I cannot hear her, I will boo!!!!
as for newinnyc, sills comments -
keep posting dear - the more you say, the more moronic you sound.
I listened to the Met Sirius "Juive" today, and now I remember having heard Eric Cutler. He was the Leopold.
I'm not sure the voice can handle "Puritani."
I tried following along with my vocal score. I don't think I've encountered so many cuts since those "Lucia"s of the 1950s.
I'll add my two cents worth to the discussion. I do believe in some booing if I believe that an artist has intentionally or irresponsibly taken me for my money. I go to the opera knowing ahead of time what to expect from an aging singer and that the best of singers can have a bad night. I'm quite sympathetic to those. But when a singer tackles a role for which he/she is totally unendowed or unprepared, then he'she should accept the audience response whatever that may be.
Anyone who knows anything about opera knows that Radames calls for a hardy tenor voice. Radameses of the past include Caruso, Domingo, Vickers, Corelli, Del Monaco, Tucker, et al. Bjoerling and Bergonzi had lighter or more spinto voices but they were very special tenors. Everyone under the sun knew that Radames was not a role for Alagna, and that he would be stretching, and most likely harming, his voice tackling it. He did it anyway, apparently he failed, and the booers let him know it. Someone had to tell him.
If he didn't like it, that's too bad. Perhaps he knew that he could not go through the run of performances and figured that walking out was the best way to get out of it. Blame on the booers rather than himself.
I happen to like Alagna - in the right lyric tenor repertoire - and hope that this incident makes him re-evaluate his voice and his abilities, not to mention how to better manage his career.
Incidentally, I blame La Scala and Chailly as much. They should have known the gamble they were taken with Alagna, the poor chances of a good performance, and the high risk of his not being able to get through the run. Perhaps that's why the understudy was standing by the wings.
As for Sills, her reputation suffers from having continued singing way too long. Unfortunately, we tend to remember artists by the last times we hear them and in the case of Sills that wasn't very good. But she was terrific in her prime.
I also had Sills in low esteem based on the times I heard her in the late 70's. Recently I heard the recording of The Siege of Corith from La Scala, and wow, what gorgeous singing. Then went back to listening to her recorded Lucia and Tudor queens and found those again to be excellent.
The same, unfortunately, applies to many other singers. It's easy now to forget how extraordinary the young Pavarotti and DiStefanos were, for example. Or Callas, for that matter. And Domingo is probably now doing himself the same harm.
In the matter of casting Alagna as Radames, people should feel free to blame La Scala and Lissner and Decca at will, but please do not blame Chailly.
Chailly did not participate in this production's casting. In fact, he wanted an entirely different set of principals.
On the issue of booing, I think that anyone should be able to boo whenever he or she wants, as long as the booing is not done deliberately to disrupt an ongoing performance.
What's wrong with booing at the conclusion of an act, or at the conclusion of a particularly poorly-sung aria?
I cannot see anything wrong with that.
Tenore di grazia: you are right on the mark re singers continuing to perform too long. I know that happened to Sills but she really doesn't deserve all the bashing she's getting here. I always found her recordings very satisfying, beautifully executed, stylish, and characterful, with good intonation and poise; film and "live" recordings proved her to be a consistent artist who could hold her own among other singers of the day. Let's not forget she was one of the first of our own "home-grown" singers who had a major career and was one of the biggest names at NYCO in the old days. To be fair, the voice itself was maybe not the most beautiful, but in many cases that is a plus--and let's face it: nobody else sounds like that--it's unique. You can always tell it's her!
Bobby A: What an ill-advised and sad thing he did. His career may go the way of Ms. Battle because of this stunt. And I agree with many that he was probably over his head with Radames. Has anyone noticed that the US press hasn't picked this up? I don't imagine they will either (oh, it might be in the Opera News review). Seems the Italians are eating it up though!
Poor Bobby.
Bolle, on the other hand, is one tasty looking little biscuit.
ok, the NY Times online has one sentence about it (from the A.P.) Maybe there is hope for this country.
Hell, I am all for booing. Let's get the shit out of the Met. I'm tired of all the fluff and hype. Let's just sing and sing well. Who cares if you are on the cover of every magazine. Opera is a blood sport b/c it's live theater. If you can't stand the pressure then step down and give someone else a chance. I am tired of the mediocrity.
I agree! for what the MET and other houses charge, should we really have to hear the likes of Andrea Gruber time and time again? When the audience clapped and clapped for her Tosca I just kept asking myself if they actually heard her sing...it was NOT good! A fit of booing may scare the MET into doing something about it!
regarding sills, I am a bit shocked at the treatment she is receiving in this thread...to my ears, just about everything she touched between 1965 and 1972 was golden! Who at that time could sing zerbinetta, lucia, manon, elizabeth I, marie, or pamira with such subtlety of characterization and dramatic insight? Just listen to her regnava nel silenzio and tell me it doesn't send shivers up your spine!
Thank you, scifisci, for defending one of our best singers. I agree that Bubbles' Lucia was one of the best.
To avoid misunderstandings with regard to Sills, I thought she was indeed great until about 1972 or 73. Her voice deteriorated after that and my possibly-considered-negative comments were about her singing in the late 70's, at the end of her career.
As to the US press picking up on the Alagna story, I heard a radio commentator talk about it yesterday on my way back home. Worry not, if there's gossip, they'll pick it up.
I find it funny that Balbanov says I am moronic for posting my OPINION about Sills and yet he poo-poos everything else at every opportunity. GET OVER IT-It is my opinion. Chacun a son gout-and history, I have a feeling, will prove me correct. She had one color in her voice-and that was annoying. She will not be remembered as one of the greats-Just someone with good timing.
Meanwhile hate is spewed about Renee Fleming and sometimes justifiably because she is a sellout. I will listen to Renee ANY day before 'Bubbles' (great name, kinda like Divina Stupenda.Yeah right)
Maybe I should clarify my position on Sills as well. I don't want to leave the impression that I'm a Sills hater.
I didn't hear her live for the first time until sometime around 1973 or '74. I had (and now that they've been reissued on CD) many of her recordings, which I enjoyed very much. I always liked her voice and expecially the top, which she seemed to be able to deliver without that pinched, shrill quality that so may sopranos have.
The few times I heard her (Traviata/Roberto Devereaux to name two), the voice was consistently in scratchy, wobbly shape. I remember in one opera (maybe Devereaux) her high notes amounting to little more than screams. Being a true creature of the theater, she handled the situation well and with real drama. And, the audience, who had come to see the mega-star, could have cared less.
She always was a fine musician, though, and it shows in everything she did.
To all those who think this Alagna fiasco is not being reported in the American press, have a gander at CNN.com's entertainment section. Alagna is now "spinning," in typical PR fashion, the danger he was in by being booed by a hostile crowd. He's accusing La Scala of fostering a dangerous and hostile work environment--even invoking the death of John Lennon relative to how much 'potential' danger he could have been in.
If you live long enough, you see it all. Based on the little I know about him and his singing (I am not a big fan of his), I think it would be ludicrous to suggest anything but that he was out of his element as Radames. But La Scala has dealt with this sort of hoo-haa before. That's how it is in Milan, I suppose. The loser in this is clearly Alagna, who just can't seem to admit that he got angry and was singing something inappropriate. To start spewing blame everywhere around him is simply wrong.
keep posting newinnyc - it just keeps proving my point.
I agree with scifisi that Andrea Gruber is a mess. I unfortunately heard her Tosca as well. It was AWFUL!!!!!!
At $175 for a midweek GT ticket I expect more. The next time I will boo and do it loudly.
"Everyone under the sun knew that Radames was not a role for Alagna"
- Did you actually HEAR it? He did a great job in the first performance at least, despite what critics have to say. He was singing brave, phrasing as a god, the high notes were all there, the timbre was absolutely right...
Balabanov-if you want to make antagonistic statements over an opinion about Beverly Sills, then you are the true moron. Enough said.
Alagna will turn this into a PR thing, but the problem is that he is going to have to deliver the goods vocally after he gets the press and I do not think a Met Chenier will show those goods!
As far as Gruber, as I am unfamiliar with her singing and I read all of these postings, was she ever good? Or is this a reaction to a decline? just curious.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061212/music_nm/italy_tenor_dc
Why would anyone pay $175 to see anyone at the Met when you can sit upstairs for $15-26. And with much better sound.
Welcome back, La Cieca, we all missed you....what a "scandale" to come back to....I first read of Alagna's walkout via Yahoo, and my first instinct was...."he's making a name for himself now!"
I've always had some ambivalence towards him as an artist, most likely because he got hyped up as a successor to the great 3. But I'm rather shocked that he'd try such a heavy role...especially after being FRIED in his reviews for his recorded Trovatore. In my opinion, nobody lower than a volume or heaviness of a Galouzine or a Heppner should attempt it, especially a Lyric. The only lyric in my opinion who did it justice was Bergonzi. LJC, how did it rank with Callas walkout? She was supposedly ill, WARNED the manager of the Rome opera that she most likely couldn't go on, but did anyway...and she was getting booed as well. If Alagna was in such good voice, why the hell walk off? Pavarotti stayed until the VERY last curtain call at his Don Carlo?! Callas got booed aLOT of the time when she was out of voice, simply shook her fist to the gallery, sang the hell outta the aria, then they clamoured!
While it does bring to mind the Rome 'scandale', Alagna doesn't have my support at all in this.
Which brings to mind....WHY drag La Sills voice through the mud? She hasn't sung for coming up to 25 yrs, whattahell? As for THIS operaluver, she was the first Traviata that I bought, she was the star that brought my interest to this art form to begin with, she always seemed to totally love being onstage and singing. I think she so didn't care about people's opinion of her, because she already had been through hell and back because of 2 kids born with handicaps. Otherwise, if I have to be over fussy, I can always say that some of her characterizations I find more of Sills portraying Sills, rather than the character, sometimes trying to be Shirley Temple in retrospect...but...When I hear her approach to the intensity of her characters, when virtually every NOTE was DEAD on!....when her persona seemed to be SO gracious, full of life and fun...hell, I'd have to put her as one of my favorites...not my absolute favorite, but one of them.
Bet they didn't boo this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzsmbnr2o0w
I think just about everybody has had some sort of trouble at La Scala--but that's the point. My issue is that Alagna overreacted and then blamed everyone else, including Chailly (!). Suppose they are a tad rude in Milan--that's what you must expect once in a while as a singer.
Sorry-One more
Love Bobby but I do not think he is the successor to this...Dynamite!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlwdW-o4KrY
Newinnyc - thanks for the Cav link. You're right, one can't boo after being rendered speechless (but miraculously one can still cheer!!). Another reminder of how far we've sunk since these glory days.
''If I don't have the joy of singing, I can't do it. I have to quit,'' Alagna is quoted as saying. ''To sing with whistles and boos, you risk singing off-key.''
LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!
This blow hard hasn't sung "ON KEY" for years. How could he when he is pushing that little lyric voice out of all healthy proportions? So he has been hearing whistles and boos in his head for a decade.....this is why he sings every note above the staff at least 1/2 step sharp?
Roberta Lasagna Battle....GONG!
Cos no one else has said it I'm going to say it - (again) because someone's got to represent the other side :)
I hate booing- think its crass, embarrassing and achieves nothing and I really resent it when some artless old queen is arrogant enough to think of themselves as some sort of avenging angel and arbiter of taste on my behalf. Have to say though- while i woulnd't boo a singer I could easily boo sets when the director is having a self indulgent wank (as so often happens today).
A lot of the booers just enjoy drawing attention to themselves- typical know it all queens.
I think I've said enough now :)
Daniel-When presented in that light, you are 100% correct. As I have posted before, nobody wants to sit next to a know-it-all queen. However, I feel that the booing can be used in cases when overhype is going on. It brings a little humility to the singer. I do have an issue if you go to a performance just to boo. Just stay home. But if a self-involved artist (as you said, set designer included) gets on stage and it is sub-par (especially as a previous poster noted at $175 a crack) it is a right. Let them know how you feel. As I said, they are not doing this for charity. At work, all of us receive performance reviews not only from our superiors (Opera admin)but also from our clients (ticket buyers) If you boo only for attention then you are more depraved than the poor performance you are witnessing.
BTW:
For Alagna to compare his episode with that of Callas is a little embarrassing. He is not worthy to ...well, you know the rest.
Is newinnyc actually the Marschallin resurected? Who else would be so crass as to make a sarcastic comment about Beverly Sills deaf daughter and retarded son?
Sorry. Don't care for Studer! Have you read some of these postings? Believe me-I am not crass!
Now I realize what you are talking about Neil...No I was not making reference to that. I am opinionated like everyone else but not insane.
It was in the idea of 'the face only a mother could love' not a swipe at anybody's disability. Had to google to see what you are talking about. Do not know Sills' personal life. Sorry if that was misinterpreted. NINYC
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