La Scala

Where the fat lady sings—Milan's famous Teatro alla Scala opera house

Opera alla Scala
The interior of La Scala.Milan's premier opera house—full name: Teatro alla Scala—is where Toscanini twirled his baton, Giuseppe Verdi was once the in-house composer, and Maria Callas trilled her way to fame and fortune.

La Scala has been perhaps the most important opera house in the world since 1778. This is where Verdi, Bellini, Rossini, and Donizetti premiered their works—among them Norma, Nabucco, Madama Butterfly, and Aïda.

Closed frequently (and repeatedly) over the past decade to effect for one restoration after another, it seems to have reopened for good as of December 2005. (If you ask me, they only kept closing it so they could keep staging Grand Reopenings every few years.)

Ricardo Muti has been musical director since 1970, and if you ever doubted opera was art, a night at La Scala will help you transcend all doubt. The opera season opens December 7—the feast day of Milan's patron Sant'Ambrogio.

You can get same-day tickets, often at a discount, either at the ticket office in the underground tunnels of the Duomo metro stop, or by lining up under the colonnade running down the left (south) flank of the theater—that's how I got into the Barber of Seville a few years ago for just €10 (waaay up in the rafters, though; I had to follow the action either on the little flatscreen TVs or by standing up).

Tips

Related pages


   ShareThis

Intrepid Travel

Search ReidsItaly.com

This material was last updated December 2010. All information was accurate at the time.

about | contact | faq

» THE REIDSITALY.COM DIFFERENCE «

Copyright © 2008–2011 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.