Pfiffe und Buh-Rufe vom Publikum

Roberto Alagna walked out of "Aida" at la Scala on December 10th. Below are four different news stories, each displaying a certain, possibly insightful, different take on the incident. The English captures a sense of the drama and the people involved, the French describes the magnificence of his fury, the German describes the impropriety of his actions, and the Italian portrays him as unrepentant and/or out of touch with reality...

English-New York Times:

Roberto Alagna, the French tenor who opened the Teatro all Scala's season in Milan on Thursday as Radames in a new production of "Aida," walked out of Sunday's performance after he was heckled for his opening aria, "Celeste Aida." Mr. Alagna's stand-in, Antonello Palombi, was quickly ordered onstage, still wearing jeans and sport shirt. At the intermission after Act II, he donned Radames's costume and was given a warm reception at the final curtain. In an interview with Agence France-Presse, Mr. Alagna, 43, complained about the audience's hostility and said, "The whistles started even before I had begun to sing."

French - Le Monde:

The Franco-Italian tenor Roberto Alagna created quite a scandal on Sunday, 10 December, in Milan by deserting the scene at la Scala in the middle of a presentation of Aida, the Verdi opera that is opening the season at the prestigious theater. A few whistles during the first act at the end of the tricky aria "Celeste Aida" were all it took to undo the singer, who first sat on a prop stair, before leaving at a furious pace while undoing his Radames costume.

Le ténor franco-italien Roberto Alagna a créé un beau scandale, dimanche 10 décembre à Milan, en désertant la scéne de la Scala au milieu de la représentation d'Aïda, l'opéra de Giuseppe Verdi qui ouvre la saison du prestigieux théâtre. Quelque sifflets ont suffi, dès le premier acte, à la fin de la périlleuse aria "Celeste Aïda", pour désarçonner le chanteur, qui a commencé par s'asseoir sur un gradin du décor, avant de sortir d'un pas furibond en dégrafant son costume de Radamès.

German - Berliner Zeitung:

The tenor Roberto Alagna left the stage of Milan's la Scala in a rage on Saturday evening after he had to take in whistles and boos from the audience for his presentation of Radames in Verdi's "Aida." While the perturbed viewers reacted with calls of "for shame, for shame!", Alagna's understudy Antonello Palombi stepped forth, still in jeans and a shirt. The manager of la Scala, Stephane Lissner, is considering legal steps. In his view, Alagna showed a lack of respect for the audience and the theater.

Der Tenor Robert Alagna (43) hat am Sonntagabend wütend die Bühne der Mailänder Scala verlassen, nachdem er vom Publikum Pfiffe und Buh-Rufe für seine Darbietung des Radames in Verdis "Aida" einstecken musste. Als die verstörten Zuschauer darauf mit "Schande! Schande!"-Rufen reagierten, trat Alagnas Stellvertreter Antonello Palombi auf - zunächst in Jeans und Hemd. Der Intendant der Scala, Stéphane Lissner, überlegt sich rechtliche Schritte. Alagna habe es an Respekt gegenüber dem Publikum und dem Theater fehlen lassen.

Italian - Il Giornale:

The hasty flight of Radames from la Scala ended in front of a plate of pasta at la Prima Fila, the historical rendezvous of the Milanese after-theater crowd. Roberto Alagna is not repenting even one bit for having abandoned the field of battle immediately after the first aria of Aida. The velvet violet on his jacket, the sad eyes, and the French accent give him the appearance of a divo, even with his legs beneath the table: "I will never return again to la Scala. I am not some kind of masochist. All the theaters of the world are trying to get me. In order to play Radames I cancelled a new production at Covent Garden in London..." The next day the tune had changed. "On the 14th Roberto Alagna will return the victor," he announced after having recovered from the trauma of the boos, and he is threatening to immediately bring a case against la Scala if they do not give him free access to the stage.

La precipitosa fuga di Radames dalla Scala finisce davanti a un piatto di pasta as Prima Fila, storico ritrovo del dopo teatro milanese. Roberto Alagna non è pentito neanche un po' di avere abbandonato il campo il della pugna, e subito dopo la prima aria dell'Aida. Il velluto viola della giacca, gli occhi tristi e l'accento francese gli danno l'allure da divo persion con le gambe sotto il tavolo: "Non tornerò mai più alla Scala. Non sono mica un masochista, io. Mi cercano da tutti i teatri del mondo, per fare Radames ho cancellato una produzione nuova al Covent Garden di Londra..." Il giorno dopo cambia musica. "Il 14 Roberto Alagna ritorna vincitor" annuncia dopo aver smaltito il trauma del "buuh" a minaccia addirittura di far causa alla Scala se non gli daranno libero accesso al palco.

As a coworker remarked, "trauma del "buuh" - understandable in any language."