I’ve decided to try and blog every day from Dec. 11 – 22, which is the exact length of the Menu for Hope fundraiser. My prize code is EU15.
Here’s five other cool prizes for the Menu for Hope today:
- A Kitchenaid Mixer from Megnut
- A photo studio box from Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Autographed books by Anthony Bourdain from Cha Xiu Bao
- Dinner at Delfina in SF by Confessions of a Restaurant Whore
- A pasta machine from Bon Appegeek [US/Canada only]
Lots of people are talking about the second performance of Aida at La Scala this past Sunday.
In short, the lead tenor was booed. And he walked off the stage.
In the middle of the performance.
His understudy stepped in to “save” the day in jeans and without the gilded costume of his “superior” – you can see what happened here.
The woman in the video says it correctly: “What a way to ruin your career!” Of course, no one expects anyone to boo at La Scala, and they try to smooth over things a bit by saying these people were sitting in the “common” section, and I guess therefore with “common” manners. There are often references in Italy about “commoners” and being a “common” person versus the “bourgeois” so this isn’t as base a description as you might think.
But I guess we can also say, the commoners were expecting a level of quality that they felt wasn’t met.
I’m not sure how the rest of the song went, but that little clip wasn’t that impressive. Not sure it merited a boo, however.
The tenor in question, Roberto Alagna, walked off – talk about a temper! I advise you to cover the right-hand portion of your screen when going to view his Wikipedia profile – the picture is heinous and a nod to 80s big hair rock. Talk about fusion of music genres.
His understudy, Antonello Palombi, doesn’t have a Wikipedia profile yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.
So, two people have been thrust into the spotlight, as well as La Scala. They really can’t lose – they get a double set of publicity after the opening, and all they have to do is promise not to work with that tenor again to pacify their public.
Wake up my sleepy readers…..who’s right? The public? The artist? Who’s booed at a theatrical performance? Who’s walked off stage? Tempers are part of art? So is public opinion?
Note: My blogger account hasn’t been upgraded to Beta so I’ve been unable to comment on yours if it’s Beta. Boo Google!
Actually, the loggione is not the “commoners'” section. It’s the area where the real opera fan usually sit. its lower prices allow people to see multiple shows and this is why it’s the area of the teater where the real expert usually sit. It was actually bortn as the area for the commoners, while the milanese burgeois and atristicrats wouls sit in the parterre and the the “palchi”, but now this divisin is no more valid: the people who wnat to see an occasional performance will go to the more priceey places, the fans that see multiple performances (sometimes also several times the same opera) will sit up in the loggione. The “booing” came from these experts.
Actually, La Scala is known to have nasty fans – if they don’t like you, they let you know it!! Roberto Alagna is quite a famous tenor (married to another very famous soprano) so I figure he doesn’t have to worry about his career. People manage to be successful, even without La Scala!!
Warmth welcome to my Crack Me Up Party on Friday 15 dec! Prepare some joke or some fun to bring and to have FUN :-)
Read more at my blog
that’s right, boo google! i haven’t been able to leave comments on beta bloggers’ blogs for 2 days…uffa
My former Italian professor said it was very common for people to boo as a way to voice their displeasure with a bad performance. I kinda wish people would do that at the MTV video music awards when people “sing” to backing vocals and what not. LOL
I couldn’t comment for a few days and at first didn’t know what the heck was going on. It only take a minute to upgrade.
Thanks for more information, guys! Yes, I think both of these parties will “bounce back” from the episode. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if he hadn’t walked off – more boos or applause in the end? :)
Don’t get on stage if you are not prepared to handle boos. If you suck or the crowd lets you you know you suck then its your responsibility to not abandon your presentation. As a hack-for-hire dj I have heard many offhanded and openly disparaging comments while Im performing but I find a way to please them or tell them(mostly in my own head) to go away or f themselves. (YouTube)Michael Richards and Pauly Shore should have not given in while on stage; its hard but take it with some fortitude, however you may end up with Carl Lewis singing your national anthem
I’m finally going to get to Italy, next spring, after forty plus years of doing the wishing part. I read the article about the La Scala performance, and the “commoners” part. I haven’t been able to figure out yet whether opera prices will be reasonable enough for us to consider (somewhere in Italy). Thoughts?