An incident at the Royal Opera House (ROH) has reignited debate about audience behaviour at the opera, after boos erupted when a last-minute stand-in could not perform the famous aria Nessun Dorma. The disruption occurred during a performance of Puccini's Turandot on Tuesday night, when tenor Roberto Alagna fell ill after the second act and withdrew.
The ROH's head of music, Richard Hetherington, sang from the wings while choreologist Tatiana Novaes Coelho acted the role on stage. However, when the third act resumed without Nessun Dorma due to its technical difficulty, some audience members voiced their displeasure. One social media user criticised the ROH for not having a replacement ready to deliver the aria, but the company stated that the role of Calàf is not typically covered during every performance.
Opera historian Flora Willson noted that while booing has a long history in opera, British audiences are generally more restrained than their Italian counterparts. She compared audience reactions to those at football matches, but highlighted that booing can disrupt unamplified performances. Willson also recalled historical protests at Covent Garden, including riots in 1809 over ticket prices and demonstrations in 1840 over a missing star baritone.
Former English National Opera artistic director John Berry described booing as 'distasteful', especially when directed at singers, who are human and can lose their voices unexpectedly. He noted that while booing is common in some European theatres, it is rare in the UK. Former Guardian columnist Martin Kettle added that booing can reflect passion but also 'boorish culture', amplified by social media. He recalled a particularly cruel incident at the ROH where a 12-year-old actor was heckled with cries of 'rubbish', though the heckler was drowned out by cheers.
