Italian press slams "pathetic" Alagna

Lucky for Alagna that Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died last night, which relegated the tenor’s fantastic temper-tantrum to the front pages of the Spettacoli (Entertainment) sections of the Italian newspapers, instead of dropping shameful little blurbs between the front pages.

Of course, the newspapers today are filled with coverage of Alagna’s walk-out of last night's Aida, as well as historical recaps of “The history of booing and blackballing performers at La Scala”, most ostentatiously with Pavarotti’s 1992 Don Carlo, and Ricciarelli’s 1989 Luisa Miller.

I’ll summarize and paraphrase the most interesting fodder from the prominent papers later today, but wanted to first highlight one of the gems, which is found in Corriere della Sera, written by music critic Enrico Girardi.

Girardi discusses the phenomenon of fussy divas, but openly mocks Alagna’s upcoming contractual decision to sing “cross-over” at the fifty-seventh Sanremo Italian Music Festival in February, 2007. To explain for those unfamiliar, Sanremo, which is both the name of the annual festival, as well as the city in Italy where it takes place, is like the lamest of the lame music festivals you could ever imagine. It spans over a handful of bleak days in February, and its' appeal is usually coveted by ninety-five-year-old senior citizens, who enjoy the washed-up announcers who introduce cruise-ship cabaret-acts and Vegas-esque lounge singers. Last year, John Travolta showed-up in full pilot regalia for a brief interview, which included a rather icky foot massage to host Victoria Cabello. It’s horrendously bad.

Signore Girardi wrote:

I capricci di un giocatore che sogna Sanremo (Translation: "Tantrums of a player, who dreams of Sanremo")

"At the end of the 1950s, Maria Callas left Rome’s Opera after the First Act of Norma because the audience had booed her. Joan Sutherland left Venice the day before the premiere of La Sonnambula because of a fight with conductor Nello Santi, who did not allow her to follow the cadenza that she wanted."

"Nellie Melba threatened Covent Garden because she didn’t want the opera house to cast Titta Ruffo as Rigoletto because he was way too young to act opposite her. Geraldine Farrar got yelled at by Toscanini at the Met (she had been late for the rehearsals), and shot back that she could afford to be late, because, after all, she was a star (the opera was Aida, and the two ended up becoming lovers). The list could go on forever, and one can go back decades in time."

"The fact is, in recent times singers have become more serious, cultured, and professional. They know that diva tantrums are a folk phenomenon from the past. Hence, there are isolated episodes, and essentially pathetic. Take for example the recent instances when Angela Gheorghiu (pictured above with Alagna) left Ravenna in a huff because Muti had the gall to scold her during Pagliacci rehearsals. And now we have this new case of her husband Alagna, who because of a few rustlings from the audience (or little more) leaves the stage in a huff."

"He’ll blame the critics, of course [ed: this article was written before Alagna made his public statements: Go Enrico!], whom he considers guilty of influencing the audience’s sensibilities; or he’ll blame the present system, which gives an edge to directors and conductors, and diminishes the singers’ influence: these are indeed, ' note stonate' [ed: literally, “missed notes”] that a good tenor such as Alagna [ed: meee-OW!] would be well advised to avoid."

"To use a soccer metaphor, Alagna missed a penalty shot: it happens. A 'ballsy' player, as they say in sports, has the courage and the spirit to turn boos into cheers. He knows that sports stadiums’ peanut galleries and opera houses’ loggioni need little to take you from the gutter to the stars (or vice cersa). But it is much easier to play an away game in Sanremo thanto stay in San Siro [ed: this is the historic Milan soccer stadium where my beloved Internazionale FC plays the super-lame, Berlusconi-owned Milan AC] and give everything to 'tornare vincitor' [ed: 'return as a Victor']."

And there you have it. Girardi eloquently captured the sentiment of what the majority here is attributing to Alagna's petulant temper-tantrum.

Comments

[DemDiva]

What is Alagna doing singing Rhadames? I'd be surprised if he didn't have vocal problems. I suspect he knew he was in over his head (even in those platform sandals)in a role that needs a bigger voice and technique than his. He's not the first singer to suffer for bad judgment. I see nothing wrong with an audience responding to bad singing--this is opera in Italy, after all. That's not what they paid to hear. I have often thought American audiences,especially in places like San Diego were either too polite or don't know the difference when they give standing ovations to the "stars" no matter how deficient their performance was.

Alagna was quoted as asking if he was expected to stay until his voice broke. If he was in vocal trouble, he could have gained some sympathy by placing his hand at his throat,shaking his head sadly and delivering an italianate shrug before walking offstage instead of blaming the audience for his failure. Vergona davvero!

[Tom]

Gotta love those shoes!

Aside from the snarkiness, Girardi obviously needs to do a bit more reading. I can't get away with misstatements of fact in my job -- and I don't get read by lots of people. Is this what passes for journalism? Or was it an op-ed and not an article?

[Opera Chic]

DemDiva, He was reportedly crapping his pants a good week before the opening, after reports were coming-in from the general rehearsals that he just wasn’t able to make the cut. I like him, but he always has an excuse waiting in the wings…usually he falls back on the “hypoglycemic” one, and says that he is prone to low-blood sugar so he needs to cancel performances a lot because he’s like passing-out or something. Hey, whatever lets you sleep at night, you know?

Tom, did Girardi really make mistakes in his article? I have been (trying to) read his article for the past few months, and he always seems spot-on. Call me perplexed...

But yes, those shoes are really something else! The thing is, on stage, and especially during the curtain calls, he was TALLER than anyone else on stage! I mean, the man is not short! But Zeffirelli\\\'s vision was of a larger-than-life king. hence, the platforms. heh.