Siberia (opera) Siberia (opera) Siberia is an opera in three acts by Umberto Giordano from a libretto by Luigi Illica. It premiered on 19 December 1903 at La Scala in Milan. There is no direct source for the plot of "Siberia" and it is quite possible that this is an original work by Illica. It was suggested at the New York premiere that it was based on Leo Tolstoy's novel "Resurrection" or one of the novels within it. The première took place on 19 December 1903 at La Scala in Milan and was revised in 1927. The première was not successful, despite
La Scala orchestra pit had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has a gallery—called the "loggione"—where the less wealthy can watch the performances. The gallery is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, known as the loggionisti, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers' perceived successes or failures. For their failures, artists receive a "baptism of fire" from these aficionados, and fiascos are long remembered. For example, in 2006, tenor Roberto Alagna was booed off the stage during a performance of "Aida". This forced his understudy, Antonello Palombi, to quickly replace him mid-scene without time to change