Roberto Alagna
Roberto Alagna (born 7 June 1963) is a French-Italian tenor. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France.
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[edit] Early years
Alagna was born outside of the city of Paris in 1963 to a family of Sicilian (Italian) immigrants . As a teenager, the young Alagna began busking and singing pop in Parisian cabarets[1], mostly for tips.[2] Influenced primarily by the films of Mario Lanza, but also from recordings of many historic tenors, he then switched to opera, but remained largely self-taught.[3][4]
[edit] Career
After winning the Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition, Alagna made his professional debut in 1988 as Alfredo Germont in La Traviata with the Glyndebourne touring company.[5] This led to many engagements throughout the smaller cities in France and Italy, mainly again as Alfredo, a role he would eventually sing over 150 times. His reputation grew and he was soon invited to sing at major theaters such as La Scala in 1990, Covent Garden in 1992 and the Metropolitan Opera as Rodolfo in 1996. His performances of Roméo in Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod at Covent Garden in 1994 (opposite Leontina Vaduva) catapulted him to international stardom.[6]
Alagna opened the 2006/07 season at La Scala on 7 December 2006 in the new production of Aïda by Franco Zeffirelli. During the second performance on 10 December, Alagna, whose opening performance was considered ill-at-ease, was booed and whistled from the loggione (the least expensive seats at the very back of La Scala), and he walked off the stage. The tenor's reaction to his public criticism was denounced as immature and unprofessional by La Scala management and Zeffirelli, who said, “A professional should never behave in this way. Alagna is too sensitive, it is too easy to hurt his feelings. He does not know how to act like a true star.”[7] The role of Radames was taken over successfully for the rest of the performance by his understudy Antonello Palombi, who entered on stage wearing jeans and a black shirt.[8] In 2007 while at the Metropolitan Opera singing the role of Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Alagna replaced the indisposed Rolando Villazon as Romeo in Roméo et Juliette opposite Anna Netrebko for two performances in September and two performances in December. His wife had flown to New York to be with him for the September engagements, and as a result was fired from the Lyric Opera of Chicago for missing her rehearsal dates for La Bohème. Alagna was also engaged by the Metropolitan Opera at the last minute to cover for the indisposed Marco Berti in a 16 October 2007 performance of Aida. After the performance, the audience gave him a standing ovation.[9] The 15 December performance of Roméo et Juliette starring Alagna and Netrebko was broadcast by the Met into 447 theaters worldwide in high definition and seen by about 97,000 people.[10]. Controversy, however, continued to shadow his career. In September 2011, a disagreement with the veteran conductor Alain Lombard in rehearsals for Gounod's Faust forced the Paris Opéra to choose between conductor and star tenor. They chose Alagna and Lombard had to leave[11].
[edit] Personal life
Alagna's first wife, Florence Lancien, died of a brain tumor in 1994; they had one daughter, Ornella, who was born in 1992. In 1996, he married Romanian soprano, Angela Gheorghiu.[12] The couple have sung together often onstage and have made many recordings together both of duets and arias and complete operas. Their joint album, Duets & Arias, peaked at #42 in the UK Albums Chart in May 1996.[13] The two singers also starred in a film version of Puccini's Tosca directed by French film director Benoît Jacquot.[14] In October 2009, Alagna said in an interview in Le Figaro that he and Angela Gheorghiu had separated.[15] Following the separation, Gheorghiu declined to appear opposite him in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2009.[16] Alagna and Gheorghiu announced that they were back together in March 2011.[17][18]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/12/how-roberto-alagna-learned-to-sing-in-bars.html
- ^ H.W. Wilson Company (1997). "Roberto Alagna". Current Biography. H.W. Wilson Company. pp. 8
- ^ "Matinee Idol". The Metropolitan Opera News. http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/interviews/detail.aspx?id=3110. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ Duffy, Martha; Denbigh, Dorrie (29 April 1996). "So Happy Together". Time: pp. 83–84. http://www.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ Cummings, David M. (2003). International Who's Who In Classical Music 2003. London, England: Europa Publications. pp. 9. ISBN 185743174X. http://books.google.com/?id=48V3kmpJEEgC&dq=International+who%27s+who+in+classical+music+2003&printsec=frontcover.
- ^ Waleson, Heidi (18 November 1995). "Alagna Slated For Tenor Stardom". Billboard: pp. 1–2. http://wwww.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ Owen, Richard (12 December 2006). "Tenor who stormed off La Scala stage vows he will return". The Times (UK). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/european_football/article751154.ece. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ "Booed tenor quits La Scala's Aida". BBC News Online. 11 December 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6169177.stm. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ Deseret Morning News, 21 October 2007, page E9, Associated Press/Verena Dobnik, "Once-booed tenor wows the Met"
- ^ "Metropolitan Opera's broadcast is a digital gift." Newport News Daily Press, 23 December 2007 [1]
- ^ http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/09/tenor-kicks-conductor-out-of-paris-so-what-else-is-new.html
- ^ Fuller, Amanda E.. "Alagna, Roberto, and Gheorghiu, Angela". Encyclopaedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/232665/Angela-Gheorghiu. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 18. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Smith, Steve (11 May 2002). "Love Story". Billboard: pp. 16. http://www.ebscohost.com
- ^ Lutaud, Léna "Roberto Alagna et Angela Gheorghiu se séparent", Le Figaro, 8 October 2009. Accessed 8 October 2009
- ^ Bernheimer, Martin "Carmen", Financial Times, 4 January 2010. Accessed 7 January 2010
- ^ Bucharest English Herald 14 Mar 2011 story – Angela Gheorghiu and her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna are back together
- ^ Alagna in an interview in the September 2011 Diapason
- Metropolitan Opera, Alagna, Roberto (Tenor), performance record from MetOpera database
