Low Blood Sugar

Tenor Roberto Alagna blames his La Scala walkout on "Low Blood Sugar."

The fun thing about the Italians -- especially at La Scala -- is that they still treat opera not as a source of highbrow boredom but as a sort of sporting event. Opera singers are as close as musicians get to being athletes; they have to perform amazing feats every night. So in Milan, the audiences react as they would to athletes: you cheer when the athlete/singer scores a point/hits the high note, and you boo for a bad play or a bum note.