Alagna’s YouTube Moment: Lend Me a Tenor

As far as I can tell by doing an “Alagna” search on the ArtsJournal music blogs, no one has taken on the latest Temperamental Tantrum in Opera, Roberto Alagna‘s unceremonious mid-performance departure from the stage of La Scala last Sunday. Now you can see it yourself, as a video on YouTube.
All I can say is that the last few notes (which is all we hear) of “Celeste Aida,” the famous opening tenor aria of that opera, sounded fine, and the sight of the street-clothed substitute Radamès, Antonello Palombi, striding onstage, grasping the hands of Amneris and letting it rip, is one of those stirring “the show must go on” moments.
Interestingly, in his report on the first-night performance of the new Franco Zeffirelli production, Alan Riding of the NY Times noted that “while Mr. Alagna seemed nervous in his opening aria,… he steadily gained in confidence, climaxing with his poignant final duet.” On Sunday, the audience missed out on that climax.
La Scala’s attendees are a famously tough crowd. They were marvelously well behaved the one night I went—better than Met audiences, who often start clapping and cheering before the last notes have faded. But the Met audience is much kinder to singers who get off to a shaky start. I’ve attended many performances where the tenor seemed to be holding back at first, only to open up gloriously in the final act. The great Plácido Domingo frequently paced himself in this way.
Basta, La Scala. Let’s put some civility back into civilization!