Word: manina
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Even the great Caruso sometimes sang Rodolfo's Che gelida manina aria from La Bohème a halftone down from the high C that Puccini's score calls for-and Puccini wrote a letter saying he liked it better that way. But when Italy's beloved tenor Giuseppi Di Stefano showed up at La Scala to rehearse Rodolfo in a new production of La Boheme under Austria's Herbert von Kara Jan. he was stopped by La Scala's tearful manager. "Oh, dear Di Stefano," said the manager, "Von Karajan doesn't want...
Instead of booing, a packed house in Milan last week greeted Von Karajan with eloquent silence as he threaded his way through the orchestra. After the Che gelida manina aria, a few hisses mingled with the applause. Von Karajan's slightly Wagnerian notion of Puccini had the audience stunned at first, and La Scala's new second-act setting looked more like the Place de la Concorde than Boheme's little Left Bank square. Still, it was a gripping performance of a great opera, and Von Karajan was honored with 18 curtain calls. "Viva, Karajan!" and "Bravo...