"A choir member threatened and insulted my 14-year-old daughter. I couldn't stand by and watch." SF is the mother of a teenager in the group who, playing games and riding scooters, disrupted the orchestra and choir rehearsals at the Teatro Lirico al Lazzaretto di Sant'Elia on Thursday evening . Tensions escalated, and the police even arrived at the scene. But the mother isn't accepting the label "just because they're from Sant'Elia. If it had just been a reprimand, I would have understood. In fact, I myself would have given my daughter a good slap if she had misbehaved. But someone went too far."
She, along with other neighborhood residents, stepped in to protect the kids. "True, one honked his scooter horn during the rehearsal. They disturbed everyone. It should be noted that the concert area wasn't cordoned off. But anyway, I was there with some friends, and I went over to see what was going on."
The fourteen-year-old, immediately afterward, told her that one of the choir members, in particular, had just insulted and threatened her, using harsh words: "And I couldn't accept that," her mother continued. "I approached him to clarify. And he took it out on me, too."
Only one person, then, raised the stakes, according to the woman's account: "Actually, the others in the orchestra were all polite and polite. But the guy on stage made a move to throw a chair at me. And I lost my mind." A slipper flew at the Lazzaretto, then a bottle. Neither hit their target. The blows were more forceful with words. Meanwhile, a crowd of residents had gathered. Someone called the police. "They arrived after a while; we had already decided to leave it alone," the story continues, "but that guy's behavior was unacceptable."
Peace was made, however, between the neighborhood and the theater. Conciliatory words were offered by the superintendent, Andrea Cigni. And the mother at the center of the affair also agreed: "Concerts and cultural initiatives in the neighborhood are welcome, they're good for Sant'Elia." But "some people should think twice before threatening a 14-year-old girl."
Enrico Fresu