Nessun Dormageddon: Audience members ‘boo and throw things’ after Royal Opera House chief steps in for sick tenor

There was more drama than usual at the Royal Opera House as its head of music had to step in when the lead tenor fell ill during a production of Turandot.

Audience members reportedly booed and even threw things as the unfortunate Richard Hetherington was forced to replace French tenor Roberto Alagna in his role as Prince Calàf for the challenging Puccini opera, after Alagna fell ill following the second act.

According to The Times, the performance on Tuesday resumed in the third act, but omitted Prince Calàf’s most famous aria, “Nessun Dorma”.

Hetherington, wearing chinos and trainers and fulfilling the oft-used adage “the show must go on”, is said to have sung from the wings while the show’s choreologist acted out his steps in costume.

While the performance did continue, some audience members reportedly booed and left, while one fan claimed that people threw things.

However, others defended Hetherington to The Times, pointing out that he had been given 10 minutes’ notice to sing “one of the most difficult tenor roles that Puccini’s written”.

“I was kind of thinking, ‘Wow, that man deserves a medal,’” Kate Daly said in a letter to the newspaper.

open image in gallery

Writer Kenan Malik wrote on X: “Drama at the opera tonight. During Turandot at Covent Garden, Roberto Alagna, playing Calàf, took ill and couldn’t come out for act III. So Richard Hetherington, ROH’s head of music, but not a trained opera singer, gamely stepped in, to sing from the side.”

He continued: “But he couldn’t sing the main arias or duets. So, they began act III after “Nessun Dorma”. And ended before the final scenes, finishing at the point where Liu takes her life rather than reveal Calàf’s name.”

Malik said it was a “disappointing, dramatic and a strangely appropriate ending all at the same time”, calling Hetherington “brave and impressive”.

Customers received an email from the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) on Wednesday to explain the “exceptionally rare situation” and offer 50 per cent of their ticket prices in credit.

A spokeswoman for the RBO said: “Roberto Alagna was taken unwell during yesterday evening’s performance of Turandot, which prevented him from completing Act III. We wish Roberto a swift and full recovery.”

Hetherington joined the RBO’s music staff in 2001 and was made head of music in 2017. He has performed the title role in the British premiere of Henze’s Pollicino, as well as playing Yniold in Pelléas et Mélisande.

As the role of Calàf is such a specialised one, many major opera houses will not have a cover or understudy in place for every performance.

Turandot was Puccini’s 12th and final opera, left unfinished after the composer died aged 65 in 1924. His student, Italian composer and pianist Franco Alfano (whose own operas included Cyrano de Bergerac), wrote a completion of the third act that reprised the famous “Nessun Dorma” opera.