Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- At La Scala, where Maria Callas was once pelted with radishes, Roberto Alagna made history last Sunday.

The high-strung French-Sicilian tenor with the silvery high notes walked off the stage during the second performance of a new production of Verdi's ``Aida'' after being booed by a few non- fans who decided his opening aria wasn't up to their standards of perfection.

He left the rest of the opera -- duets, trios plus triumphal march -- to understudy Antonello Palombi.

What should be his fate?

Alagna's dramatic ``drop dead'' to his critics has brought opera center stage, however briefly, provoking a flurry of hastily convened press conferences, media bulletins, editorials and commentaries. So we must be grateful to this talented nut.

When Alagna, 43, spoke to reporters on Monday, he said he hoped to return for his remaining performances. He also expressed his distress at the rudeness of his tormentors and thanked his father and grandfather for some useful advice: When you are not appreciated, leave.

That advice was short on logic, of course, since most of the theater's 2,000 ticket holders were probably happy to encounter a singer who was neither fat nor squat stomping around the pyramids as Radames, doughty vanquisher of Ethiopia.

But a shaky ego and self-doubt afflict especially the greatest singers and often flip over into rampant narcissism.

Stern Approach

La Scala's general manager, Stephane Lissner, took a stern approach. Alagna would not be allowed back for any ``Aida'' shows. He had offended the public.

``Unfortunately, his behavior on Sunday evening caused a definitive break between the artist and the audience which La Scala has no possibility of mending,'' Lissner said. He failed to explain why that audience would be thrilled to pay as much as 170 euros ($225) to hear the understudy or the hastily summoned Walter Fraccaro just so the boss could teach Alagna a lesson in deportment.

Golly. Who misbehaved first? Since when has Lissner faced more than an unbalanced budget or a group of gormless journalists? Has he never pondered what it might be like to step in front of thousands of strangers who may not all wish you well? Why punish a guy who turned another evening at the opera into an unforgettable event?

Hard High Note

Verdi's Radames is a particular challenge for a dramatic tenor who has little time to warm up before delivering his ode to the slave he loves, ``Celeste Aida,'' an aria capped by a high B flat that is meant to be spun out softly and almost never is.

In the 1980s, I attended a performance at La Scala in which the tenor simply skipped the note after losing his way. As the hapless man threw frightened looks at the useless conductor, my neighbor began loudly humming the tune which was then taken up by others. ``This is the way it goes, you cretin,'' he shouted.

Baiting singers is part of the La Scala experience, though the recent makeover of the theater eliminated the standing room once occupied by La Scala's polarizing claques.

Long-in-the-tooth opera queens remember the booing of Mirella Freni by Renata Scotto worshippers or Callas by those who could adore only Renata Tebaldi. More recently, in December 1992, Luciano Pavarotti forgot bits of Don Carlo and was booed as he bumbled about the scenery.

Renee Fleming's souvenir book will always include that night in 1998 when she gave offense with her ornamentations in the title role of Donizetti's ``Lucrezia Borgia.'' Partisans of an old Turkish belle and ex-Lucrezia, Leyla Gencer, probably led the attack and in the ensuing pandemonium, the sensitive conductor, Gianluigi Gelmetti, collapsed twice on the podium before leaving by ambulance.

Fleming, tough as nails, insisted on returning to La Scala as soon as possible, but with a concert featuring dour, unembellished German songs that don't attract voice lunatics.

Toxic Atmosphere

The atmosphere at La Scala could be as toxic backstage in the Yellow Room, where the company's last master, the imperious conductor Riccardo Muti, held his rehearsals. He enjoyed having two casts compete for the honor of the opening night and would go around pointing his baton at some quivering heap of hope: ``Sing that line,'' he would command. Then, turning to another, ``Now you.''

Alagna has never been the most stable colleague, especially since marrying Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu, whose own temper and diva demands are the stuff of legend. Every writer has a favorite story of Draculette in full cry. Here's mine: She once insisted a London radio program provide a makeup artist before she went on.

How can you not adore someone like that? There are way too many bores on the stage, singing perfectly. These two have esprit, even if it doesn't always advance their agenda in an era where bureaucrats just want their programs to run smoothly.

Sick Attraction

Alagna can be as self-defeating as his wife, fighting fights that lead nowhere as he awaits the adoration that will never be enough. A few years ago, his unrealistic financial demands scuppered a project to film ``Il trovatore'' at the Bastille, thus depriving opera history of his excellent Manrico.

Just why Alagna would sign up for La Scala is hard to fathom, but the historic house seems to exude a sick attraction. Perhaps he relished working with directing legend Franco Zeffirelli, 83, who goes back to the glorious 1950s at La Scala. In any event, the tenor canceled his participation in another new production, ``Carmen'' at Covent Garden, just to appear. (Pavarotti had also canceled a new ``Lucia'' at the Metropolitan Opera so he could embarrass himself as Don Carlo).

Oh, irony. Big names are rarely booed at the Met or Covent Garden -- only unconventional directors and the occasional wayward conductor. By canceling Covent Garden, the tenor gave a huge opportunity to Jonas Kaufmann, who took his place and delivered a world-class performance last Friday.

German Star

Kaufmann, a handsome German about six years younger and a few inches taller, provoked the kind of cheering that poor Alagna had hoped to hear at Scala.

Did Papa and Il Nonno offer no wise maxims to their Roberto along the lines of ``There is always someone waiting in the wings?'' Or ``Seize the night?''

``Aida'' without Alagna is on tonight. For more information on La Scala and its casts, see http://www.teatroallascala.org. For more on the Royal Opera House, see http://info.royaloperahouse.org.

(Manuela Hoelterhoff is executive editor of Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own).

To contact the writer of this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff in New York at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 14, 2006 00:05 EST