(Corriere della Sera's sketch)
On the eve of Sant'Ambrogio, the December 7th feast day of Milan's patron saint, the city prepares to launch Teatro alla Scala's 2011/12 season with a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The Wednesday night premiere was given to Canadian opera director Robert Carsen, who will also bow a new Les contes d'Hoffmann in mid-January 2012 for il Piermarini (for the record, we've also got two Luc Bondy productions this season -- Tosca with Luisotti in April 2012 and a new Rigoletto with Dudamel in November 2012). Paid.
DonG's one of the most buzzed about season openers in recent years for its star power, which had been dimmed during a deluge of Wagner and Verdi (and Bizet) with idiosyncratic casting. And c'mon, it's the f*cking Don. Mozart Da Ponte! We've got new MD Barenboim on the podium, Peter Mattei as the Don, Bryn Terfel as Leporello, Barbara Frittoli as Donna Elvira, Annuschka as Donna Anna, Giuseppe Filianoti as Don Ottavio and Kwangchul Youn as Il Commendatore.
Every Italian news agency and their mothers have been publishing photos from various rehearsals and the final dress on December 4.
FOTO FEVER! PHOTO PHEVER!
Corriere's special section is here, with a huge photo show here (via Pierluigi Panza's recap here).
Il Sole 24 Ore has a photo show of 14 photos here.
La Repubblica's photo show is here, with a special section here.
If you weren't one of the lucky VIPs to score a median-1,440 euro ticket, you have a few options:
Rai's boasting ten telecameras and sixty microphones to capture the December 7 performance which will be fed to Rai5 and Radio3. In Europe, it'll be seen on ARTE and ZDF. In Russia, on TV Kultura, and in the USA, it's accessible in movie theaters through Emerging Pictures. Rai5 will play a repeat on Sunday, December 11 at 9:30am.
There's also be a jumbotron in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and a handful of Italian cinemas.
For Italian Sky satellite subscribers, opening night will be transmitted on a delayed feed on Classica (channel 728) starting at 8:50 with a 20 minute pre-show. Classica's also offering a free trial to non-subscribers from December 7-14.