The Teatro alla Scala, usually referred to informally as the Scala, is the main opera house in Milan. Considered among the most prestigious theaters in the world, it has hosted for 242 years the main artists in the international field of opera, and, more generally, of classical music, often commissioning works still present on the billboards of the major theaters in the world.
Teatro Alla Scala History
The Teatro alla Scala was built on the ashes of the Ducal Theater in 1776 by the will of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and inaugurated in 1778 with recognized Europe by Antonio Salieri. The name derives from the place where the theater was built, based on a project by the neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini: the site of the church of Santa Maria alla Scala.
In 1812, with the advent of Rossini (La paragone), La Scala became the place of choice for Italian melodrama, its evolution over a century and its tradition of execution up to the present day. The choreography of Salvatore Viganò (1769-1868) and Carlo Blasis (1795-1878) extend the artistic primacy of the Theater to ballet.
Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) took over the artistic direction in 1920 and promoted a radical reform of the theater; collects Verdi's musical legacy, but establishes a regular executive tradition of Wagner's works, extends the orchestra's theatrical and symphonic repertoire.
Since 1951, on the initiative of Victor De Sabata, the Scala Season opens on 7 December, the day of Sant’Ambrogio, patron of Milan. Hence, in part, the symbolic and even extramusical value of the evening.
In 1965, Claudio Abbado made his debut at La Scala with Mahler's Second Symphony. In 1968 he became Music Director of the Orchestra and in 1972 Music Director of the Theater, of which he would also take on the Artistic Direction in 1977-79. Three years later, he also founded the Filarmonica della Scala, on the Wiener model. Until 1986, the year of his leave from La Scala, he performed among other things Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L'Italiana in Algeri, Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims, Simon Boccanegra, Macbeth, Aida, Don Carlo, Un ballo in Verdi's mask, Musorgsky's Boris Godunov, Berg's Wozzeck, Wagner's Lohengrin, Debussy's Pelléas et Melisande.
In 1986 Riccardo Muti takes over the musical direction of the theater. From 1989 to 1998 he staged the most loved works by Verdi, Rigoletto, La traviata, Macbeth.
In 1997 La Scala became a private law foundation, opening a decisive modernization phase.
Between January 2002 and December 2004, the Scala faces the most profound restoration of the historic building, and modernization of the stage, since the end of the Second World War. . On December 7, 2004 Riccardo Muti inaugurates the restored Scala