In today's Italian newspapers, Corriere della Sera and Repubblica (how sweet to be able to buy them in New York, too, OC is now addicted!) Riccardo Chailly, conductor of last December's unlucky Aida at La Scala, slams tenor Roberto Alagna. Here are the most damaging quotes:
"Yesterday I watched the Aida DVD that RAI will broadcast and Decca will soon sell in music stores...and it was a luminous, beautiful show, with excellent singers. Alagna also performed convincingly, and he gave life to a convincing Radames. But now he will say that he was right; He will say that he was a perfect Radames. Instead he should thank the sound engineers: because they performed a miracle, working on such little material they had in their hands and fixing all the defects in an astounding manner. Watching the DVD, one sees that it was a good idea. We worked well, and what happened seems even more painful now. He should have gone ahead with the show. It was a matter of respect".
So, no matter what Alagna said last month in one of his more unhinged moments ("Decca said they only make the Aida DVD if I am the protagonist in this production"), the DVD is indeed coming out! w00t!