On January 2, 1958, a minor official at the Rome Opera House bore the thankless task of announcing bad news to the audience: Maria Callas had left the building. The legendary soprano, stricken by illness, would no longer perform in the title role of Vincenzo Bellini's "Norma" before an esteemed assembly that included the President of Italy.
The audience responded with a cascade of boos, jeers and whistles (skip to 7:40 in the video) that quickly overpowered the official's entreaties for calm. Over the next several hours and into the next day, furious Romans scrawled "WE DON'T WANT CALLAS IN ROME!" or "VIVA TEBALDI!" over posters advertising the ruined opening night, in tribute to Callas' great Italian rival. Outside Callas' accommodation at the Hotel Quirinale, truncheon-wielding policemen tried in vain to disperse a mass of shouting demonstrators, while on the floor of the Parliament, government deputies proposed a motion that would ban Callas from singing in all state-owned theaters.
