La Scala on Monday hailed the opening night of the season as a success, playing down a fraught run-up to the evening that included an almost unprecedented last-minute cast change as well as a bitter wage row by opera house staff.
''The performance was excellent from all points of view and the result speaks for itself,'' said La Scala General Manager Stephane Lissner of Verdi's Don Carlo, which received eight minutes of applause when the curtains fell on Sunday night's premier.
The positive reaction largely drowned out some boos from La Scala's die-hard loggionisti, or cheap seat season ticket holders, many of whom disapproved of the cast change.
Lissner said he was ''sorry'' about polemics that arose from the replacement of lead tenor Giuseppe Filianoti by the American Stuart Neill, who was called in a day before the premier after Filianoti failed to impress during a dress rehearsal on Friday.
The snubbed tenor described the decision by La Scala to substitute him with Neill as ''a stab in the back'', adding that he had refused the opera house's requests for him to ''pretend he was ill'' in order to explain away the decision.
Lissner said the move had been ''humanly difficult but necessary'', likening it to the decision of a football manager choosing to field players who are on top form.
''It's our responsibility, in front of the world, to show the best. We couldn't do anything else,'' he said, explaining that the performance was being recorded by 35 radio stations across the world as well as several Italian and foreign television broadcasters.
Despite Lissner's enthusiasm, the performance received less than glowing reviews from the Italian press, with Corriere della Sera's opera critic Paolo Isotta claiming the majority of the cast ''sang as if they were reading the phone book''.
Isotta added that conductor Daniele Gatti had been booed at the start of each act, something he had not seen in his 30 years of opera-going.
''It was almost scary: every time he came to the podium he was submerged in a torrent of whistles and shouts''.
Never easily pleased, the loggionisti were split by the performance but agreed that the opening night had been ''acceptable given the circumstances''.
''I have to say that the whistles and boos came mainly from friends and fans of Filianoti in the first gallery,'' said one loggionista who has held a season ticket for 30 years.
Filianoti watched the first act of the performance from the stalls, seated next to Neill's girlfriend.
''He told me he had come to show his respect for art and I didn't say anything. I gave him a hug. We have a lot of respect for his talent,'' said Sandra Lopez.
Atlanta-born Neill was meanwhile unaffected by whistles from Filianoti fans, describing the performance as ''an exciting evening, really satisfying''.
Until a week ago, a long-standing row between backstage staff at La Scala and musicians and performers demanding a wage hike had threatened to scupper the opening night altogether.
Tensions ran high at the opera house after a union representing many musicians and a small group of singers threatened strike action unless the artists received a pay increase, enraging technicians and ticket sellers who said La Scala could not function without them.
The battle was resolved on Monday when unions signed a deal.
