Give it up for the great maestro Mariss Jansons, who last night amazed la Scala with his Bayerischen Rundfunks, aka "The Fieldmarshals Of Funk" (j/k), in a program that boasted
Also sprach Zarathustra, the Tristan prelude, and Bartok's Miracolous Mandarin.
But the coolest part is that, as an hommage to Italy, he also chose -- as a surprise -- the Intermezzo from our beloved Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, horrifying the many snobs here who consider Mascagni, with Cilea, too "popular", too "lowbrow", too "crude" -- when, in fact, Mascagni and Cilea are obviously anything but (I mean, Herbie Von Karajan was one of many famous huge Mascagni fans).
And also, the heartbreaking Intermezzo represents the best use of opera by a film director, like, evar.
Well done sir!