Copycat iniqua

La Cieca is delighted to hear that the Opéra de Paris and soprano Natalie Dessay just last night performed an hommage to Maria Callas by recreating one of the most famous nights of La Divina’s career. Unfortunately, that “night” was January 2, 1958, and in the intervening half century, opera management still hasn’t learned its lesson.

Just as on the notorious night of the “Rome Walkout,” no cover was available at the Opéra when Dessay was unable to continue singing — even though she has been complaining of a sore throat for the past three weeks. And so the second act of La sonnambula was not given, and the audience sent home.