Mente Il Ceffo, Io Già Non Mento: What Really Happened When Fleming Was Savaged By Scala's Loggionisti. Opera Chic Sets The Record Straight

Renée Fleming, in the Baltimore Sun, talked to Friend Of OC Tim Smith about her infamous "Lucrezia Borgia" at la Scala, little more than 10 years ago.

"The soprano endured a different kind of fall the last time she sang in Lucrezia. That was at La Scala in Milan 10 years ago, when she heard a chorus of boos."

"Various conspiracy theories have floated in the opera world to account for that volatile night. Whatever the circumstances, the scandal does not appear to have left a permanent scar on the singer."

"'I finally went back to listen to it recently - a pirate recording exists, and you can hear the booing,' Fleming says. 'I have to say that, on the whole, the performance was really good, and from everybody.'"

Now, not only is big sister La Cieca is debating the matter & the audio evidence, but OC -- who over the years has heard all kind of things re: that fateful night by ear-witnesses present at la Scala, and after listening to the recording didn't think La Renée had sung that bad, but then for the loggionisti the actual performance unfolding on stage is often irrelevant -- has decided to dig out of unimpeachable Corriere della Sera's archives the story of that unlucky production.

Let's see. **All translations are Opera Chic's**, for your look-back-in-anger operatic pleasure.

First things first: Fleming, just arrived in Milan, gave an interview to the paper explaining how:

"I'm in favor of crossover, obviously if the quality is high. I'd love to take part in one of Pavarotti's benefit concerts. If he calls, I'll immediately say yes"

The paper's headline: "Pavarotti let me sing with you".

Then Argentinian director Hugo de Ana, who created a disquieting copper platform for Lucrezia to stand on, and a cage (representing Alfonso's castle in Ferrara) explained that he saw Lucrezia not as a monster but as "mater dolorosa".

Finally, performance night.

Here's the paper's report: "Conductor Passes Out During Lucrezia at Scala"

"At 8:32pm, after the end of the aria "Com' e' bello quale incanto", the conductor, Gianluigi Gelmetti, passed out on the podium. The orchestra kept playing for a few seconds, as the singers kept singing. People in the audience stood up, then the curtain fell [...]"

"[...] the show has been interrupted for about 30 minutes. Then Gelmetti, in his Scala debut, obtained permission from the doctor to go back to the pit. At around 9:00pm the lights went up, and the maestro was saluted by thundering applause [...]"

"[...] the reassuring "Lucrezia with a human face", Renee Fleming, a soprano whose face reminds more of the serene portrait by Pinturicchio than the bloodthirsty traditional character. It was immediately clear that, for her, the comparison with the two latest Lucrezias who appeared here in the 1970s, Leyla Gencer and Montserrat Caballe', was going to be difficult."

"Some noise came from the audience immediately during the prologo; at the end of Act I, her performance has been applauded, just like Marcello Giordani's, Michele Pertusi's and Sonia Ganassi's. But at the end of Act II and III, the problems exploded: the loggione booed the soprano, but the platea shot back in an equally forceful manner [in Italian: 'Ha risposto in maniera altrettanto decisa"'] with 'Silence' and 'Moron, shut up'."

"In the end, the applause from the platea drowned out the loggionisti's whistles; the loggionisti called la Fleming 'boring', 'with uneven attacchi', 'useless in the trillati': in the end, 'an American lady'. Gelmetti had it worse. By the end of Act I he had trouble standing. By the end he couldn't walk over to the stage to gather the applause, even if loggionisti had criticized him, also. Exhausted, he was hospitalized in order to have some tests performed."

Finally Corriere della Sera's notoriously harsh chief critic gave the verdict:

"Renée Fleming has been harshly attacked by isolated spectators. The truth is, she made several intonation errors over a night that would have anguished any artist, in a role with anomalous characteristics. The body of her voice is full and vibrant, especially in the centers; timbro is pleasant except for some harshness over the 'passaggio'; her diction is, for a foreigner, better than many of her colleagues."

"She was clearly prepared with care. We didn't like her tendency to slip into 'parlato' during the recitativi and a not fully developed control of her 'messa di voce'. What counts, in the end, is that she is a first class singer, and she demonstrates it -- we'd bet that, over the coming nights, she will conquer the audience as well."

And in fact, after that unfateful night, the booing stopped.

Comments

[melky p.]

BRAVA to O.C. for unlocking the esoteric archives of Corriere!

You have unduly debunked the most pressing & erroneous myth from the LAST DECADE that so many "Renee Bashers" still desperately cling to. We all knew that she handled Lucrezia at La Scala well, and it was only the obnoxious loggione that hated her. Those loggionisti are so backwards and so nationalistic and are so AFRAID of anything that threatens their classic Italian singers of yesterday that are becoming just as extinct as themselves. It's more a distrust of outsiders than a criticism of Renee herself.

"First class singer"! "The body of her voice is full and vibrant"! And I know how harsh and tough the Italian scholarly critics are. I mean, these are no Anthony Tommasinis. One doesn't need to just show off sculptured abs to get a good review in Italy.

I am so lucky to be an OC reader and have access to these precious excerpts you are able to share with us. Now, Renee's people should be kissing your lovely lady curves. Or at least offering you a lifetime supply of free tickets to any Renee appearance you wish :-)

[Little Miss Tenorpants]

I only wish "Silence" and "Moron, shut up" would seriously keep quiet all the annoying and irrepressible Renee haters! Although in Italian, it would probably sound a little more authoritative!

[88 keys]

"I'm in favor of crossover, obviously if the quality is high. I'd love to take part in one of Pavarotti's benefit concerts. If he calls, I'll immediately say yes"

--

Oh boy! I never knew that little miss Renee outed herself as a hopeful cross-over contender just before her appearance at La Scala. Knowing the loggionisti, this is all the tiny spark they needed to light their hate filled fires.

I guess Renee was probably trying to show her solidarity with the Italians by accepting a preemptive invitation with Pavarotti, one of the most lauded opera heroes of Italy -- but it really backfired in this situation.

It's pretty obvious that the loggionisti had already made up their minds how Renee would be handled once she stepped on the famous La Scala stage. Anyone admitting to such a sell-out status definitely threatens the traditional loggionisti's code of ethics. Yikes.

If I recall correctly, didn't Roberto Alagna do something like this before his famous Aida walk-out? I could have sworn he was boastful to the Italian press about one thing or another (like his usual self), but the Milanese didn't like it one bit, and had already made up their minds to mess with him and boo his "Celeste Aida". Correct me if I'm wrong?

Anyway, if one can survive the harsh initiation rituals of the seedy La Scala loggionisti, you can say that you've truly made it and earned your stripes. Renee fans know that she stood up to that test and didn't cower or hide from it like one certain Sicilian/French tenor we all remember so fondly. I'm happy to be elucidated on all these elements now, and thank you dear Opera Chic for exposing them for us.

[Parsifal]

And what about the rumour that il signore Gelmetti was the one behind the whole thing??? I think we ve all heard it, and that he had various problems with Renee. We also know (I for sure) that he's a very difficult person causing all kind of trouble to singers. Am I wrong? Huh? Isnt it true that he and Renee had a fight regarding the embelishments that Renee would use? The high notes? the cadenzas? And that they hated each other immediately after the first couple of rehearsals??? After all, I think most of us agree that her singing was NOT boo-able (but boo-able indeed was her Traviata singing at the Met Gala)...

[Lucrezia]

OC says : And in fact, after that unfateful night, the booing stopped. It's not correct. Fleming sang just 2 of her 5 (I think) perfomances and was booed in both of them, and that was why she gave up and left La Scala after the second perfomance. The booed stop...but Fleming was flown away when they stopped!

[Coloratura Tempura]

Then why did he pass out? Because she poisoned him? She was Lucretia !!! This is hilarious! The drama!

[Andrea]

No, I was there after la prima and miss Fleming did three repliche, she went away one week after la prima, not soon. I liked her so so, not perfect, but good. Not terrible, completely. Loggione is a crazy place. She never sung an opera in Scala after Lucrezia, it's bad for Scala. Loggione keeps many singers away. Many bad singers, yes, they come. Fleming, no.

[Les Mitchell]

Loggione people have been allowed to carry on this type of behavior since the time of Callas and Tebaldi. They also booed Shirley Verrett, and many others. Is it a tradition over there? If so, I think that it's time it ends. We no longer live in the type of world where such behavior should be allowed to flourish. I'm sure it's worse in Parma. To hell with these idiots! These fanatics do nothing to help opera, and they certainly do nothing to make foreign singers want to keep singing there either. I'm sick of these people.

[Parsifal]

"Then why did he pass out?"

Did he? For real?

[loggionista]

I was at the prima of Lucrezia. She sung in a terrble way. She was saved at the end of the first act by fainting (casually!)of maestro Gelmetti.
She sung out of pitch all the performance and at the end in the rondò, she screamed the highest notes.
She was unprepared for this important debut: she came at the rehalsales 3 week later the cast.
A bas performance of a presumptuous diva!

[Uno che sa]

Maestro Gelmetti was put in the hospital and tests demostrated he was ill. He was obliged to resign later performaces for his illness. There is cospiracy only if you think the doctors were corrupted and medical tests fakes. It was his first time in Scala, ruined. Loggionisti whistle a lot, right or wrong, they are not controlled by a guest maestro at the debut in Milano.

[Bill Philin Ploplis]

Thanks for the clarifications. I enjoyed hearing from the eyewitnesses also. I think maybe our dear Renee should have chosen something else for her debut, perhaps her signature Rusalka. She had a very demanding tradition of bel canto queens to live up to, and bel canto is not her exclusive repertory. Maybe even Floyd's Susannah would have been an option. After all, why bring coals to Newcastle? Again thanks, OC! It was great to hear that Fleming returned to Scala with a solid recital performance.