There are giant screens set up next door to the theater at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where everyday people can stand and watch the performance. They also stream it live on national television for those who want to watch from home.
It’s the beginning of the beginning, and from an outsider’s perspective, true pageantry. For the opera singers actually on stage, however, it is known as the greatest challenge in their performing careers.
What makes it so difficult is that discerning audience members may degrade them with boos just as readily as they may celebrate them with cheers and applause. Unlike the mild response one can expect from a Japanese crowd, the Italians make it abundantly clear whether you have succeeded or failed.
By “discerning audience members,” I don’t mean the invited guests. I mean the regular theatergoers sitting in the top balcony. Needless to say, these are the hardcore opera fans.
When you read the papers the next day, you’ll see headlines talking about the thirteen minutes of applause, for example—yet when you actually read more closely, you realize that there’s booing almost every year as well.
This year, they selected Don Carlos, a Giuseppe Verdi opera set in Spain, for the opening night.
A series of events are held to galvanize the excited opera fans, who congregate at establishments that cater to lovers of classical music and watch the performance together on giant screens. During the long break between the first and second acts, Spanish food is served to celebrate the setting of the opera. It’s a night that really showcases the Italians’ passion for food and music.
Last year they opened with an opera from a Russian composer, a controversial choice in the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian War. It even drew protestors in front of the opera house.
Going even further back to 2006, I watched the giant screens at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II as they staged Aida, one of Giuseppe Verdi’s masterworks. I was shocked when Roberto Alagna, one of the top tenors in the world, finished his aria and there was booing amidst the applause!
At first I thought I was mishearing it, but then Alagna (perhaps angrily?) left the stage. As I stared in amazement, the next scene began and a replacement tenor appeared without costume or makeup—and started singing in everyday clothes! It was a scandalous opening night.
More recently, people are not booing because they’re dissatisfied with song performances, but because there frequently seem to be hidden political agendas working behind the scenes. It seems like booing has become a commonplace strategy.
