Dario Fo vs. Stéphane Lissner: No Jacket Required

As Opera Chic reported on January 16, the latest step in Scala General Manager Stéphane Lissner SuperFlyTNT hardline against, well, everybody and everything, is his decision to enforce a dress code at la Scala for the gentlemen.

Today's Repubblica carries a story about the dress code where Milanese Nobel Laureate and Opera Fan, the awesome, naturally elegant Dario Fo, expresses his deep disappointment: "This is a bad omen: the man makes the clothes, not the other way around. I think La Scala's management would rather have the same type of people in the audience, all lookalikes, all the better if they belong to the upper class. It's discrimination".

Comments

[bravo.muti]

Ciao, this is the very news that I was so much astonished with!

For mens it may be easy to think about what to wear.

But for ladies...what sould they wear?
What dresses have the "class" suitable for La Scala?
No Madonna alla Scala????

[Crew Mantle]

U know I really can't abide people who don't robe themselves correctly to the occasion. For a split second I might endure an 9-5 admin in a low cut $30 sequined top, but that same amount of fascination would apply to someone in $700 blue jeans at the opera. It has ZIP to do with elitism, but rather a matter of class and good taste.

End of discussion.

[alex]

Dear Crew Mantle,

I think you do have a valid point, and although I don't really have a formed opinion on the matter myself, I did want to say that just because the amount of money spent isn't directly involved doesn't mean that it's not elitist or classist.

[thad]

crew mantle is right. In an age when the rich can pay hundreds for designer t-shirts and a thousand for a pair of jeans, class and elitism don't really enter into the equation. The proles today can find decently made suits and ties for the price of a good La Scala ticket.

It's about showing respect for the institution, for the performers, and for your fellow opera lovers. Think of the poor basoonist, huffing and puffing down there in the pit in full evening dress, and you can't even be bothered to put on a tie? C'mon!

I remember backpacking my way through Italy in the Spring of 1984. During this entire trip I schlepped a Brooks Brothers garment bag containing my blue blazer, a pair of grey flannel slacks, a dress shirt and a tie, because I had a ticket to hear Marilyn Horne sing L'Italiana in Algeri with Abbado conducting at La Scala, and I was dammned if I was going to show up in Levis and hiking boots!