ALAGNA SPEAKS!!!! "I shall never come back to La Scala: this is not a theatre, it’s a Roman Arena."

OMG ALAGNA SPOKE TO PAPARAZZI OUTSIDE OF TEATRO ALLA SCALA BEFORE HE FINALLY LEFT. HERE IS WHAT HE SAID (translated from Italian):

"The audience didn’t understand, that’s why I left.

I’m displeased, embittered, stunned: I sang all over the world, but standing in front of tonight’s audience, I felt like I was in another world. True audiences - audiences with fire and blood -  were not at La Scala tonight.

I sang beautifully, I was bravissimo. Too bad for those who didn’t understand.

I shall never come back to La Scala: This is not a theatre, it’s a Roman Arena. Professionals here get manipulated.

I sing with heart, with my blood. Critics never mentioned my work on fraseggio [phrasing], on my voice’s color, on my pathos.

With Zeffirelli and Chailly? I had good feeling. To no result.

I canceled my commitment for Manon Lescaut in 2008. My wife is thinking of canceling her commitment for La Traviata here in July 2007."

Comments

[of the kosmos]

Thanks again for the news. This is exactly what I thought he'd say (that's he's a great singer and doesn't deserve this). The thing about Alagna and his wife is that I agree with so much of what they say, but the *way* they say things, with a complete lack of graciousness and humility, makes them look ridiculous. So, I agree with his sentiment (I am not sympathetic to the culture of booing--it's not cute), but not so much with the way he expressed it, in actions and words.

At the same time, why shouldn't opera singers act like rock stars? Both singers are booked into the next decade, and I doubt that this stunt will affect their standing engagements.

[Opera Chic]

Yeah, but, of the kosmos, like you said before...it\\\'s totally unprofessional to storm-off the stage.

Alagna was totally cocky with this statement. \\\"I SANG BRAVISSIMO\\\". Well, his Celeste Aida was one of the worst arias of Thursday\\\'s opening night, and I can\\\'t imagine it improved much tonight.

But I love the MY WIFE comment. HEY GUYS HAVE YOU SEEN MY HOT WIFE??

[Henry Holland]

Hello, love your blog, luckily my boss is gone because I've been laughing for the last 10 minutes.

Sure, Alagna's booked until forever, but I heard him here in Los Angeles a few years ago in "Boheme" and I wasn't impressed at all. "Celese Aida"? Yikes.

If he's not careful, he and his wife are going to end up like Kathleen Battle (unemployable) or Pavarotti (frozen out of most leading houses). Does he really want to be singing Boheme in Gelsenkirchen to pay the bills?

[il tenore]

If he's not careful, he'll end up like Pavarotti? Well, who in the opera world wants to end up a legend? I wonder...

[Opera Chic]

Henry Holland, thanks so much! I’m glad too that your boss is gone! If you told him that you were laughing at an OPERA BLOG, there’s no way he’d believe you. Opera is normally not very funny, really. Yah, a pretty bad business/career decision at this point, and I hope that he and his wife can return from this point. Thank goodness that WIFE of ALAGNA hasn’t made any public statements. She knows at least when to keep her mouth shut. But apparently behind-the-scenes, there’s trouble brewing on THAT front.

il tenore, don’t be coy!!!!