One of our favorite, living Italian conductors, Milanese maestro Francesco Maria Colombo -- who counts legendary sopranos Renata Scotto and Magda Olivero as dear friends -- can perfectly master the most diverse masterpieces of symphony and opera from Jean Sibelius to George Gershwin to Rossini. His lessons are culled from decades past (although he's still a very young 40-something with an even younger spirit) of working closely and sharing friendships with late greats Carlo Maria Giulini and Gian Carlo Menotti, both who inspired him to leave his former, successful career as music critic for Milan's august newspaper, Corriere della Sera, where he earned a cult-like following for his clear-headed, intuitive reviews.
To celebrate his current string of performances with those cool laVerdi kids at Auditorium di Milano, Opera Chic asked the maestro to share some of his favorite things about Milan and his (frankly) Milanese lifestyle for her "Stasera Esco" column over at Grazia.it. The stylish conductor was kind enough to give us a VIP list of all things worthy to be cherished about Milan, the maestro included.