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La Scala Opera House, Milan

The Teatro alla Scala was founded, under the auspices of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, to replace the Royal Ducal Theatre, which was destroyed by fire. The cost of building the new theatre was borne by the owners of the boxes at the Ducal, in exchange for possession of the land on which stood the church of Santa Maria alla Scala (hence the name) and for renewed ownership of their boxes. Designed by the great neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini, La Scala opened on 3 August 1778 with Antonio Salieri's opera L'Europa riconosciuta.

The early period of the theatre's artistic history is linked to the tradition of "Neapolitan" opera buffa. The theatre's repertoire was renewed between 1793 and 1798 with L'oro fa tutto by Ferdinando Paër and Un pazzo ne fa cento by Giovanni Simone Mayr. Thus La Scala opened towards the neoclassical French taste and to the subsequent, more radical evolution of musical theatre. Paër and Mayr historically represented the junction and passage between opera buffa and the romantic opera of Gioachino Rossini. With him the Scala became the appointed place of Italian opera seria. In 1806 Alessandro Sanquirico was appointed director of stage design. He renewed the theatre's concept of productions by adjusting them to the new romantic tendency. In 1814 the depth of the stage was increased, to occupy part of the site of a demolished convent in what is now via Verdi.
In 1839 Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio inaugurated the cycle of operas by Giuseppe Verdi , the composer whose name is linked more than any other to the history of La Scala. In 1846 Verdi's collaboration with La Scala came to an abrupt halt. For many long years the works of Verdi were performed elsewhere. But after 1869, reconciliation gradually came back. In 1881 Luigi Manzotti and Romualdo Marenco created ballo Excelsior, one of the masterpieces of scenography at the Scala and still part of its repertoire today. Arturo Toscanini became the artistic director and introduced radical reform into the theatre, both in its organizational aspects and in its relations with the public. On 8 March 1913 the Scala Theatre Museum was opened, after the purchase of collections from the Parisian antique-dealer Jules Sambon.

In 1921 ownership of the boxes was transferred from private subscribers to the Milan City Council, a measure that had been made necessary by a new economic crisis aggravated in 1917 by the difficulties of the First World War. The Scala was transformed into a State-controlled municipal corporation, which guaranteed the annual financing of its activities. An important enlargement of the stage and the complete refurbishment of its technical systems were carried out. In 1943 La Scala was severely damaged by bombing. Reopened on 11 May 1946, with a historic concert conducted by Toscanini, the theatre rapidly returnedto its highest levels of production.

In 1954 Norberto Mola was named director of the Chorus. In 1955 Carla Fracci made her first appearance at the Scala. In 1970 Riccardo Muti made his debut at the Scala as a symphony conductor.

In 1972 Claudio Abbado was named conductor of the Scala Orchestra. In 1978 a major exhibition was held at the Palazzo Reale in Milan to celebrate the Bicentenary of the Scala. In 1981 Riccardo Muti debuted at the Scala as an opera conductor. In 1982 the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala was established. In 1986 Riccardo Muti was appointed musical director. From 1989 to 1998 he reintroduced the best-loved works (Rigoletto, La traviata, Macbeth, La forza del destino) and numerous other titles by Verdi including Falstaff and Don Carlo.

In 1997 La Scala was converted into a Foundation under private ownership, thus opening a decisive phase of modernization. At the end of the season, La Scala was completely renovated including a total overhaul of the technical layout of the stage.
Last chapter of the Teatro alla Scala story is its return to the renovated Piermarini building. On 7 December 2004 the new season - the first after the definitive closing of the Theatre at the end of 2001- opens with the opera that 266 years ago inaugurated the Theatre: Europa Riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri.
Restoration and renovation works have officially started on 4 July 2002 and continued for the whole 2003 until October 2004, when Fondazione Scala had its first access to the restored rooms. Besides the restoration to preserve the monumental area carried out by architect Elisabetta Fabbri, and the modernization of the service mechanical plants, the most evident aspect of the renovated Teatro alla Scala is the majestic ellipsis and the new stage tower, both designed by architect Mario Botta.

BALLET AND OPERA SEASON 2007-2008

Opera and Ballet