Domingo Roundly Booed At Met

A performance of Puccini’s La Boheme at the Metropolitan Opera went awry this week to the extent that conductor Placido Domingo found himself getting lustily booed before the beginning of the third act. Domingo’s offense was apparently to not have followed star soprano Anna Netrebko closely enough during her big arias in the first two acts. “In order to fully realize her artistic vision, she allowed each phrase to develop organically, unhurriedly, employing tasteful rubato and holding high notes expertly and impressively. But Mr. Domingo trudged along inattentively at metronomic speed, running noticeably ahead of his diva.”