Among the piles of mail that Opera Chic found after her mad Salzburg/Cortina long weekend -- the usual invitations to wine tastings, gallery shows, the unfortunate American Express bills, the expired Valentines and general fan mail -- she found a copy of Sunday's Corriere della Sera. In it, a great story about the Zeffirelli-Fires-Alagna-from-Rome's-Traviata story we reported on last week.
Some choice quotes follow. Here's one from our friend Franco "Frengo" Zeffirelli (who, since Angela Gheorghiu will be Violetta, had promised a superhawt "very erotic" staging with the husband-and-wife team):
"Alagna wanted to sing for two nights only, I don't stage an opera with a singer who stands there with a watch in his hand. Then, immediately thereafter, I was supposed to work with another tenor. It wouldn't have been respectful: not for me, nor for the audience".
The Corriere della Sera writer then hints what everybody -- Zeffirelli and the Opera di Roma -- was really afraid of: some other incident with the loggione -- Roman opera lovers, maybe, would not accept to be upstaged by their milanese colleagues.
The story also carries an awesome little piece of news: the Opera di Roma Artistic Director, Mauro Trombetta, has personally flown to Vienna (where Alagna will debut next Saturday in Massenet's Manon, at least if doesn't change his mind again) to try to talk some sense into Alagna:
«It is not appropriate to start an argument. Alagna wanted to come to Rome to please his wife Angela Gheorghiu, but had other commitments. He asked for forgiveness, he told me it's been a long time since they sang together: the problem is he has to study a part for another opera he's not familiar with, and just didn't have the time».
Roberto! Not again! Snap!