This is a true story.
Tenors can be notorious for their ego and temperament, and
this particular tenor –Michele Molese—gave in to a public demonstration of both
during a performance in 1974 at the New York City Opera, and I happened to have
been there.
Harold Schonberg was music critic for the Times for a lot of years and was well known
for his sometimes acerbic critiques of not only opera singers but apparently
any musician he felt was “showboating,” including Leonard Bernstein. Schonberg’s
long and distinguished career included a Pulitzer Prize.
One of Schonberg’s critiques of Molese’s singing included a
comment to the effect that the tenor sometimes “squeezed” his high notes.
Molese apparently didn’t take it too well, but then, tenors are notoriously
sensitive about their high notes. Understandably so … some opera goers figure
no matter how beautifully the tenor sings, if his high notes aren’t sheer
perfection, he hasn’t done his job. Pity the poor tenor!
Here’s where the fun began. Molese was singing Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). The tenor’s big third
act aria includes a high C. Mr. Molese sang it well, and the audience (which
obviously included many of his ardent supporters) gave him prolonged and
vigorous applause. After which Mr. Molese complete broke character and
tradition, stepped to the front of the stage and announced in English: “The
pinched high C was for Mr. Schonberg.”
Well, the audience erupted. Loud booing on the one hand, applause
and “bravo!” on the other. Yes, I’d say the audience was of two minds about
what had just happened. I was dumbfounded and sat with my mouth open, attempting
to process this scene. I’d read about stuff like this happening in Europe. This
was New York, for heaven’s sake. Eventually, the audience quieted and the
performance continued.
But that’s not the end of the story. As the singers took
their solo bows after the completion of the performance, Mr. Molese’s
appearance created a huge stir. More boos, more “bravos” – and then something happened
that was right out of a movie. What appeared to be a Molese detractor ran to
the front of the stage, shouting something (I’m guessing obscenities, but
because there was so much noise it was impossible to hear from my seat in the
balcony.). By this time the agitated audience had begun to file out of the house
and the aisles were clogged.
A Molese fan decided he had to silence the guy who continued
to carry on in front of the stage, and he jumped up onto the back of a seat and,
with amazing agility, actually ran to the
front using the backs of the seats. When he reached the offender, punches were
thrown and then he went for the guy’s throat. Eventually the two men were
separated.
Mr. Molese’s obituary indicates the NYCO fired him after the
incident, but after a period of time he was rehired and continued to sing with
the company until 1980. Good tenors aren’t easy to come by.
True story. Who says opera is boring??
(I included this story, changing the names to protect the
innocent, in my book Eli’s Heart.)
Links to all my books can be found on my website
www.susanmoorejordan.com
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