Ioan Holender, always feisty, badly slammed la Scala in an interview with the FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU:
Haben Sie die Mailänder Scala eigentlich als künstlerische Konkurrenz betrachtet?
Nein, was die machen, kann man nicht ernst nehmen. Denken Sie nur mal an diesen unsäglichen "Simone Boccanegra", der schon in Berlin zu erleben war. Sawallisch hat immer gesagt, wir sind alle erpressbar. Genau das ist aber falsch. Verzichten muss man können. Das ist alles!
English translation:
Did you consider Milan's Scala as an actual artistic competitor?
No, what they do I cannot take seriously. Just think of that unspeakale Simon Boccanegra, that had already been seen in Berlin. Sawallisch used to say that we are all vulnerable to blackmail. It's not true. You have to be able to say no. This is all.
Holender is, of course, the same dude who made cruel fun of Stéphane Lissner, la Scala's GM, because he can't read music.
In all fairness, a few conductors Opera Chic has heard at la Scala clearly couldn't read music either, so it's not just the General Manager!
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