Opera Chic

Made in Italy x Made in Italy: Tod's & Teatro alla Scala

This afternoon between rainstorms at Teatro alla Scala in Rodotto Toscanini under the bemused, bronzed bust of Giacomo Puccini, La Scala Intendant Stéphane Lissner and Chairman/Prez of Tod's Diego Della Valle were in high spirits for good reason: the lux, Italian moccasin-maker pledged 5.2 million euros (almost $8 million freedom bux) to back La Scala's cultural and youth initiatives, gaining permanent donor status up there with La Scala's eight current, corporate sponsors.

Tod's initiatives are far from the cultural fringe, having recently poured 25 million euros to help restore Rome's crumbling, pollution-stained Colosseum. Della Valle finds it a moral obligation to support his fellow Italian landmarks and institutions, but mostly it's a positive sign for an opera house that has struggled to find donors in the past.

It's not the first time the two Italian heavyweights have collaborated. Back in September 2010 during Women's Fashion Week, Tod's hosted a Milan cocktail to toast the marriage of Made in Italy luxury with Made in Italy culture. "An Italian Dream" was a 5-minute, tightly-choreographed commercial that featured La Scala's corpo di ballo wearing Tod's new suede (ballet-inspired) shoes. Opera Chic was there!

Opera Chic and Grazia Magazine: Vittorio Grigolo's Love Lessons

(Photo: Rada Film/ Cristiano Gigliano)

Charles Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" opens on Monday night at La Scala in Bartlett Sher's 2008 Salzburger Festspiele production -- another remix of William Shakespeare's timeless story that's broken our hearts since we first read it as teenagers. The Elizabethan playwright's star-crossed lovers are sung by Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo and Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze (with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting), a young triptych of fresh talent for Milan's il Piermarini.

For our latest piece on Grazia.it, we asked the young Arezzo-born heart-throb about his love lessons, which you can read here.

Balanchine's and Van Cleef & Arpels' Jewels

The story goes that New York City Ballet co-founder George Balanchine, while walking down NYC's Fifth Avenue in the 1960s, was so dazzled by a creation from Parisian husband & wife Van Cleef & Arpels' sparkling window display that it inspired him to create his 1967 triptych ballet, Jewels.

Showing Balachine some reciprocal love, on the 40th anniversary of Jewels, Van Cleef & Arpels launched a collection of 80 pieces called Ballet Précieux to honor the Russian choreographer's ballet.

Balanchine's Jewels has been shining at Teatro alla Scala this month with guest artists Leonid Sarafanov, Alina Somova, Polina Semionova, Guillaume Côté dancing the three scenes of Emeralds, Rubies and Diamonds to the music of Fauré, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky (thanks to the story from the May 12 issue of Corriere della Sera's Sette for reminding us).

If you're in NYC, the Cooper Hewitt is currently showing 250 pieces from the vaults and archives of Parisian jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels in an exhibition called "Set in Style", which closes on July 4, and includes some of the pieces from Ballet Précieux.

(Emeralds! Garritano and Sutera. Credit Brescia-Amisano Teatro alla Scala)

Above, Van Cleef & Arpels pin.

(Rubies! Marta Romagna. Credit Brescia-Amisano Teatro alla Scala)

(Diamonds! Somova and Coté. Credit Brescia-Amisano Teatro alla Scala)

Van Cleef & Arpels pin

 

La Scala's New Turandot Gets Steamrolled

Puccini's last opera, posthumously completed after the composer passed away at 66, merits a production that matches the instinctive viscera of the narrative, dynamic singers who can transform through the libretto's big transitions, and a prepared conductor to flesh-out and develop all the modernity found in the composer's dynamic score.

The new production of Turandot for Teatro alla Scala by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti offered little in the way of Puccini lust, unable to compliment the conductor's dramatic tale of the man-eating ice princess who haunts Giuseppe Adami's and Renato Simoni's libretto.

Under Puccini's pen, Turandot was riddled (haaaaaa!) with developmental issues from the conception, later finished by the composer's former student Franco Alfano, which finally had its premiere on April 25, 1926 at La Scala, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The Luccan conductor had passed away two years prior from complications of throat surgery (an infection brought on by a fish bone eaten two years earlier, although rumor is that he had throat cancer) on 29 November 1924, his body temporarily mourned in Milan. At the memorial, Toscanini, in reverence to his colleague, conducted the La Scala orchestra in the Requiem from Puccini's second opera, Edgar.

Although Valery Gergiev conducted the first round of replications at La Scala, Milanese conductor Daniele Callegari was brought in for the later shows, and his interpretation of Puccini's dynamic composition was monochromatic and uneven. We're calling him the Eliot Spitzer of opera -- for steamrolling through all of Puccini's good graces ("I'm a f**king steamroller"!)

Puccini's Turandot burns with its cinematic, crisply-sweeping cadenze. Puccini was highly regarded for his  accessibility to contemporary music (contemporary to his time, obvs) and Turandot is a testament to that, crackling with wit, exoticism, and wispy melodies. But Callegari subdued all of Puccini's sparkle and playful idiosyncrasies. At its worst moments, it listed and wobbled like a gutter-bound bowling ball, relying on the brass and percussion to add an ersatz significance. At its best moments, Callegari conducted with a sweetness that pushed the notes delicately ahead, undoubtedly skilled at what he was doing, although inappropriate for Puccini's expressiveness. (Although it worked well enough for nostalgic moments like Act II's Ping/Pang/Pong "Ho una casa nell'Honan" and Act I's chorus proposition "Perche tarda la luna?")

Giorgio Barberio Corsetti's staging downplayed the dramatic thrust of the gripping fable, an underdeveloped testament to Puccini's font -- the adaptation of Carlo Gozzi's 1762 commedia dell'arte, Turandot. It was robbed of the beautiful capitulation of Turandot's heart, stripped of dramatic entrances and paces -- only the Princess's robes distinguished her from plebs plebis.

Despite the challenges of the undercooked staging, California soprano Lise Lindstrom (who shared the role with Maria Guleghina) rallied with great authority. With her declarative aria "In questa reggia", she blew the saddle off the horse (and our Wolford stockings off our legs) with her vibrantly-ringing voice and toe-curling power. She brought a visceral, soul-bearing pathos to the character -- frankly, we could imagine her clawing into prospective suitors' chests like Mola Ram, the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom villain, ripping-out their still-beating hearts. KALI MA! KALI MA! Lindstrom had that whole Birgit Nilsson dramatic soprano thing going on with a magnetic stage presence, although we'd already seen her sparkle as Turandot in NYC for her Metropolitan Opera debut 2.5 years ago, so we knew what we were in for.

Subdued costumes and sets by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti and Cristian Taraborrelli turned the libretto's Peking palace into a rural, dusty province instead of the regal Chinese dynasty empire, the imperial city postured like a row of beachfront bathhouses. Big ups at least for keeping it dignified and somewhat elegant without clumsy Asian stereotypes.

Video projections -- atmospheric moon and clouds -- were thankfully never cheesy, although they were at times distracting. Choreographer Ricky Sim was a delight, evoking Puccini's heaven-bound score with light-as-air tumblers. Act I began with an acrobat descending from silks in the sky in a fluid, ethereal vision. Ping, Pang, and Pong each had a doppelgänger tumbler who acted out in spirited, elastic acrobatics.

Calaf was American tenor Stuart Neill (splitting the role with Marco Berti) in a brown Obi-Wan Kenobi robe, and his Nessun Dorma garnered a spontaneous round of applause. Liù was Ekaterina Scherbachenko (alternating with Maija Kovalevska) who brought a sweet portrayal of Calaf's loyal slave. Marco Spotti sang an engaging Timur. The Masks -- Ping, Pang, and Pong -- sung by Angelo Veccia, Luca Casalin, and Carlo Bosi respectively -- meshed into an easy camaraderie, a spirited performance by the trio at the opening of Act II. La Scala's excellent chorus, as always, under the loving direction of chorus master Bruno Casoni, was a study in preparedness and richness.

After the convergence of a steamrolled Turandot, it served as a pithy reminder that despite good casting, opera's strength at times can be reduced to the sum of its parts.

Opera Chic and Grazia Magazine: La Scala's Gala des Étoiles

(Roberto Bolle and Massimo Murru photo: Brescia-Amisano Teatro alla Scala)

Opera Chic was in the house last week for La Scala's Gala des étoiles -- a spirited gathering of international scene-stealers from the top ballet companies -- and was so blown away with the streamlined stallions and prancing ponies on stage that she wrote a review for Grazia.it. Also it didn't hurt that Roberto Bolle was one of the featured dancers...

You can read it here, in Italian, on Grazia's website.

 

 

 

Sciopero! No Turandot on Friday at La Scala

Teatro alla Scala's Friday, May 6 Turandot (with Lise Lindstrom singing the lead and Maestro Daniele Callegari swapping-in for Valery Gergiev) has been canceled due to a general strike.

 

Barbara and Pato do (re mi fa so) La Scala

Her bunga-bunga-loving dad Silvo makes no attempt to support his country's rich opera legacy, routinely bowing out of La Scala's December VIP-laden opening night of the new season.

However daughter Barbara Berlusconi enjoys the occasional night at the opera. She was papped by Italian gossip magazine "A" while attending the opening night of La Scala's Turandot in the company of Milan AC footballer Pato, a Brazilian striker who plays for her dad's Serie A soccer team. After the show, the odd couple (she's his boss's daughter) went to trendy Brazil/Japan-fusion sushi bar Finger's.

Lise Lindstrom Makes her La Scala Debut and Breaks Turandot's Mold

(Photo by John Fitzgerald)

The current heavyweight of Puccini's Turandot is California native Lise Lindstrom, already 30 different productions of the opera under her belt, who made her triumphant Teatro alla Scala debut last week singing the ice princess in a new production.

She spoke to Milan's Corriere della Sera about what it means to sing Puccini's meaty, vocally-juicy character, across so many life-changing stages and experiences.

OC's quick translation from Italian below!

An enigmatic princess who interrogates her prospective suitors with three riddles and he who gets it wrong dies (by decapitation). She's one of the most disturbing women in theatrical history (in opera and other arts) and reflects a theory most commonly held in regards to Turandot.

But the the heroine the Puccini opera, which debuted in 1926 at Milan's Teatro alla Scala in the unfinished form (the composer had already died before he was able to write the finale) and according to one of the opera world's current and  best interpreters of the opera, she wasn't cruel and unsympathetic like most people think.

However, it's the opposite. Although according to Lise Lindstrom, the American soprano with a certifiable Puccini-esque destiny (she's a true "Fanciulla del West", born in Sonora, California, the heart of the 19th century gold rush epoch, and both of her grandmothers were called Minnie just like the main character in Puccini's Western-themed opera)

Her vision of Turandot goes against the stereotypes of Puccini's ice princess, man-eater, ball-busting woman.

Lindstrom, much loved by the American, German, and Dutch critics, celebrated her La Scala debut last night in a role that's made her famous (she's alternating in this La Scala production with Maria Guleghina since Turnadot asks for a vocal strength even greater than that of normal roles) and she's still "incredibly emotional".

You know you want to read the rest!! Click click click!

Teatro alla Scala's Season 2011-2012 -- It Finally Gets Better

Press and Teatro alla Scala VIPS gathered about an hour ago with Intendant Stephane Lissner and Milan's Mayor Letizia Moratti in Il Piermarnin's Ridotto Toscanini for the introduction of the opera house's 2011-12 season, released earlier this year than in the past (last year was at the end of May as well as in 2009), although Opera Chic tweeted the play-by-play live from the house a few hours ago.

Finally the new 2011-12 season is a welcome departure from the past couple seasons of mediocre revivals and not terribly exciting rosters, although La Scala's playing it safe with a very even, unrisky productions and projects. La Scala's going back to the big names, working-in some of opera's highest-ticket selling stars for their new season although the list of maestri gets repetitive (Welber, Barenboim, Dudamel) and also the directors (Bondy, Carsen, Zeffirelli). What's with all the doubling-up? The AP's report is here.

Recitals are a mixed-bag with Daniela Barcellona, Ian Bostridge, Mariella Devia, Edita Gruberova, Elina Garanca, Rene Pape, and Rolando Villazon (in November 2012, but we'll believe it when we see it).

The symphonic season brings us Philippe Jordan, Barenboim, Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Semyon Bychkov and Riccardo Chailly (with his Stefano Bollani sidekick!)

Ballet is the most boring out of them all with, yes, Roberto Bolle, but in a cycle of luke-warm shows.

About half of the 13 operas to be seen on Scala's stage are new, seven being new opera productions.

The season opens with Scala's honorary conductor, Maestro Scaligero, Daniel Barenboim, conducting a new Robert Carsen production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca will be Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, Bryn Terfel and Barbara Frittoli thrown in the mix, while Giuseppi Filianoti's trying his luck again with la prima as Don Ottavio since he was fired at the last minute in 2008's Don Carlo and has yet to return..

La Scala shelves Frengo Zeffirelli's 2006 Aida spectacle and brings out his 1963 sets -- which sadly, means no Roberto Bolle in a thong. Conducting is young Israeli conducting nerd, Omer Meir Wellber. 

Nicola Luisotti will spin his Puccini magic in the Luc Bondy Tosca.

Claus Guth does Die Frau ohne Schatten in a new production with the ROH -- insanity...

Robin Ticciati makes his Scala opera debut with a new Richard Jones production of Britten's Peter Grimes (blogged here) staring John M. Ainsley and John Graham-Hall.

We've got Noseda doing a new production of Luisa Miller and Fabio Luisi doing a new production of Pelly-Thomas Massenet Manon, starring Nathalie Dessay.

In September all bets are on for a Zeffirelli La boheme with Anna Netrebko and Angela Gheorghiu splitting the role of Mimi (conducted by Daniele Rustioni). Diva vs. diva. 

Dudamel comes for a new production of Luc Bondy's Rigoletto with Vittorio Grigolo (Dudamel also conducts the Christmas-time Concerto di Natale).

And the Barenboim/Cassiers oddysee continues with Wagner's Siegfried.

Other big news? Claudio Abbado will finally (we hope) make it back to Scala for a concert in October 2012. After this and this, we're hoping it happens.

A season to look forward to, finally, for the first time in years, a nice predictable schedule for not so predictable times.

Thomas Hampson's Mahler Moments at his Teatro alla Scala Recital

He can't be ignored. He won't be ignored. Thomas Hampson's physique and his even bigger personality can't be hushed, and even when he's onstage -- costumed as Valentin in Gounod's Faust, the lead in Mozart's Don Giovanni, or Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca -- it comes through. In recital, however, it's a constant balance between the lightness of the composer's music/poet's text and Hampson's booming baritone. Especially in Lieder, which the American singer's been lately commited to, with the poems as the protagonist -- and the struggle to leave the lightest touch while saturating each word in emotion is a big task.

But Hampson managed it -- despite tiny, sparse moments of un-Liederlike enthusiasm -- and he showed-off his elegant Austrian/Hungarian Lieder to a packed house at Teatro alla Scala on Monday night as the Milanese went insane for his sensitive program of Schubert, Liszt, and Mahler -- and especially for the five generous encores that he kept hitting out of the park, right onto Lansdowne Street. Hampson's intuitivness and intelligence complimented the songs, and his earnest, "I'm just a boy, standing in front of an audience, asking them to love Lieder" approach was refreshing.

The program started with six Lieder from Franz Schubert's "Schwanengesang", Swan Song, a posthumous collection that used texts from 3 poets, composed in 1828 and published the next year, only a few months after Schubert's death.

Hampson sang the six songs set to poems by Heinrich Heine, all ruminations on love and longing. Der Doppelgänger -- where the protagonist looks towards the house where his love once lived and is appalled to see someone else standing there, only to realize that it's the shadow of himself, miserable and lonely /lol/ ("You may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house and you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful wife." /lol/) -- was an expression of great, softened emotion and expression. Hampson mastered the songs through lovely passages that segued gracefully from tranquility to turbulence.

The second set was six assorted Lieder from Franz Liszt, and pianist Wolfram Rieger's beautiful expression and well-shaped phrases took the spotlight. He shadowed Hampson expertly and lovingly, giving him space to interpret and breathe through the Lieder. Hampson sang Liszt's Lieder with a dark weight, very powerful and at times uplifting. "Vergiftet sind meine Lieder" was a standout, a piece full of longing, tenderness, and remorse where Hampson saturated it with a nice balance of melancholy and nostalgia that never sunk to the depths of depression and rode the rallying undercurrent of Hampson's interpretation.

It's Mahler's centenary and everyone is going cray-cray for the Austrian composer's gorgeously romantic, lushly-pastoral works. Trendsetter Hampson recently dropped a new CD in celebration of Mahler's 100th with Des Knaben Wunderhorn and the Wiener Virtuosen. So it's no surprise that the selections form Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn was the most engaging, resonant part of the program. Set to 14 poems over the span of almost 10 years, Mahler's composition was taken from a three volume collection of folk songs from two Romantic poets from the very beginning of the 19th century.

Hampson's rich, Austrian pronunciation worked well with his clean voice in a stellar reading of 8 Lieder from Das Knaben Wunderhorn and overlap in Lieder und Gesänge. He affected a convincing vulnerability, singing with a nativity, freshness and youthfulness that was much younger than his years. Ich ging mit Lust durch einen grünen Wald had an uplifting hope and tenderness, one of his standouts.

Poised and lyrical, Hampson's real skill was the streamlining of his Hampsony idiosyncrasies to allow the gorgeous Lieder breathing room, always staying tender and pensive throughout the poems. And as if La Scala's audience wasn't enthusiastic enough over his concert, Hampson came out for five separate encores, all Lieder, like from Mahler's Lieder und Gesänge, with a standout by Meyerbeer.

Thomas Hampson in La Repubblica on Embracing New Media

Last night in Milan, American baritone Thomas Hampson rocked La Scala in a recital program of Lieder, a stunning sampler of Schubert (Schwanengesan), Liszt, and Mahler (Des Knaben Wunderhorn). His only visit to Italy this season, it gave his Italian fans (who packed the house) a single night to catch him in full-on baritone action. OC was in the theater for the half-dozen encores and standing ovations that the Milanese public heaped on him, deservedly, a full review coming later.

Yesterday the American singer spoke to La Repubblica in an inteview about his Mahler and his eight-year-old foundation, Hampsong. He also spoke about being part of a generation (his Metropolitan Opera debut was in 1981) that has witnessed the opera industry's evolution. Unlike some of his colleagues, Hampson embraces new media (aside from social media, there's a Hampson ipad and iphone app), bridging the old school with the new. Really, it's what we'd expect from a singer who is known for his flexibility and versatility on stage and with repertory.

Off with a bang, Hampson on being compared to the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: "Fischer-Dieskau has no heir. It's a huge compliment, and I thank you for it, but it's like saying that there's another Pavarotti or Callas. It's just impossible."

You're also a popular teacher. In what present condition is the relationship between young people and classical music?

"There's good news and bad news. The good news is that there are lots of awesomely good, young musicians that are entering the professional world of classical music, and the levels of instruction are much better than they've been for years. The bad news is that instead, they seem disinterested in the vehicles of communication like radio, newspapers, and television. The media's musical offerings and outlets have diminished and I don't understand the reason. And there are just way too few people under the age of 40 who come to the concerts and buy classical music CDs. Maybe it's because the media doesn't really affect them and probably because music gets perceived as too expensive, although personally, i don't think it's true."

So can the internet be used as a solution to spread information about classical music?

"Definitely. Especially for its ability to integrate lots of way to disseminate information, all at the same time: the vision, the audience, and the lessons. The internet is a frontier with thousands of possibilities, but it's also just one part of a series of technological advances that can be useful in the future. I believe that we're just at the beginning of this, and at present time ,the most interesting thing is the social network. But we have to figure out how to fall into the trap -- those which use technology or substitute it with certain traditional methods. So if the question is, 'Can you learn music over the internet?' the answer is, 'No.' If the question instead is, 'Can the internet help you expand your knowledge about music?' the answer is, "yes."

Yes!

Scala GM Stephane Lissner Defends "Tosca" Singers Who Called In Sick Before Opening Night, Slams "Stupid" People Who Boo; Attacks Scala Orchestra That Once Complained About Boulez

Shortly before curtain tonight in Milan, Scala GM Stephane Lissner defended the string of cancellations by the three singers who apparently got sick before the opening night of Luc Bondy's "Tosca", telling ANSA news agency that thyey are indeed sick and they're not simply trying to avoid being booed.

Jonas Kaufmann (Cavaradossi),  Oksana Dyka (Tosca) and Davide Pelissero (Sciarrone) canceled their commitment to the first show due to illness.

"Neither those who are here tonight -- said Lissner -- nor those who couldn't make it are afraid of certain stupid people who declare in advance, on the Internet, their intent to boo".

Did he mean the infamous "loggionisti"?

"There are 400 loggionisti, less than 20 of them boo".

Lissner also called Aleksandrs Antonenko, tonight's Cavaradossi who was flown in from Frankfurt, "a miracle, one of the two or three top Cavaradossi in the world".

Lissner also defended rookie conductor Omer Meir Wellber (Daniel Barenboim's protege and former assistant) who according to the GM did "splendid work" and slammed the orchestra who "in the past even complained about Pierre Boulez... four years ago after two rehersals of Stravinsky with him, they came to me to ask where did I find that conductor. I won't comment further".

Zing!

La Scala Makes It Official: Cancellations Across the Board for Tosca's La Prima

OC reported early this morning (see post below) on the cancellations that were rumoured to plague tomorrow night's Tosca (in Luc Bondy's controversial new direction) is now made official by La Scala. Italian news agency ANSA reports that La Scala's currently under attack of a nasty virus that's culled half of Tosca's opening night cast.

Among the sick are Jonas Kaufmann (Cavaradossi #1), Oksana Dyka (Tosca), Marco Berti (Cavaradossi #2) and Davide Pellissero (Sciarrone), all who have contracted a fast-spreading virus.

Kaufmann's to be replaced by Aleksandrs Antonenko in the role of Cavaradossi, Sondra Radvanovsky saves the day as lead Tosca, and Alessandro Calamai will sing Sciarrone.

 

Tosca Shakedown at La Scala: Dyka Out of La Prima, Radvanovsky In [Update: Kaufmann Out, Too]

 

[UPDATE 3:40pm Milan time, February 14, 2011: Jonas Kaufmann is also reportedly out of tomorrow night's Tosca la prima. He was slated to sing Cavaradossi.]

Word from the smog-heavy streets of downtown Milan is that due to illness, Oksana Dyka has canceled her opening night lead role in Puccini's Tosca at Teatro alla Scala, slated to open tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 15. Stepping in is American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (who is scheduled to sing the role later in the run on February 27 & March 2, 4 & 6). Upgrade!! Conducting is Omer Meir Wellber, singing Cavaradossi is Jonas Kaufmann (February 15, 17, 20 & 22 -- split with Marco Berti), and singing Scarpia is Zeljko Lucic (February 15, 17, 20 & 22 & March 2, 4, 23 & 25 -- split with Bryn Terfel)

Opening night, less than 36 hours away, will unveil to the Milanese that controversial new production by Luc Bondy (that OC saw in New York City for its 2009 world premiere here) which New Yorkers lost their pewp over (and not in a good way) -- although signs point to the Milanese preparing flasks of Citrosodina (Italy's Alka Seltzer) to help digest Bondy's updated staging.

 

 

Scala VP Says Government Cuts Will Provoke a € 5M Deficit In 2010, and an additional € 12M Deficit in 2011

Fondazione Scala Vice President Bruno Ermolli said earlier today to ANSA news agency that planned government cuts to arts funding, if not revoked, will provoke a € 5,000,000 deficit for 2010, and the deficit would rise in 2011 with an additional - € 12,000,000

Nevertheless, the opera house does not plan to cut any performances from the season's program.

Charles Dickens Goes To La Scala For a Capuleti/Prometheus Double Bill

In the splendid theatre of La Scala, there
was a ballet of action performed after the opera, under the title
of Prometheus:  in the beginning of which, some hundred or two of
men and women represented our mortal race before the refinements ofthe arts and sciences, and loves and graces, came on earth to soften them.  I never saw anything more effective.  Generally speaking, the pantomimic action of the Italians is more remarkable
for its sudden and impetuous character than for its delicate
expression, but, in this case, the drooping monotony:  the weary,
miserable, listless, moping life:  the sordid passions and desires
of human creatures, destitute of those elevating influences to
which we owe so much, and to whose promoters we render so little:
were expressed in a manner really powerful and affecting.  I should
have thought it almost impossible to present such an idea so
strongly on the stage, without the aid of speech.

-- Charles Dickens, 1844, "Pictures From Italy"

According to Edoardo Bolchesi's notes in the 1879 Italian translation of "Pictures From Italy", the "Prometheus" ballet was put on at La Scala choreographed by Augusto Huss in the autumn of 1844; Dickens caught in a double bill with Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi".

Speaking of Prometheus: Mengelberg's doesn't suck like, at all.

La Scala's Website Gets Its Hair Did

Out with the old in with the new for La Scala's 2010-11 season, the Italian opera theater revamped their website with an interactive and media-driven version. Just what the kidz want am i rite?

We haven't finished poking through all the features -- and although Scala 2.0's navigation is much simpler and more organized than Scala Beta's -- we're going with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!" The endearingly Scalaese site has gone corporate.

Anyway, click the link below to discover a Teatro alla Scala souvenir that Opera Chic just brought home!

A Pretty New Partnership For La Scala

When we originally saw the diva-struck advertisement in Corriere della Sera's special la prima insert, we posted it to our facebook account. Now elegant Japanese make-up giant Shiseido and burly Italian opera theater Teatro alla Scala officially announce a three year partnership, which kicked off on December 7 with the inauguration of La Scala's new season. All of the artists, including the ballerinas (and possibly the orchestra?) will find Shiseido products backstage.

Rolex Represents for La Scala's Season Opener

In the rush of preparing for la prima madness and settling back into Milan from a recent vacation (more on that in a bit) Opera Chic didn't have much free time to stroll through the masses of Milan's downtown Xmas crushes to follow our yearly tradition of bringing you la prima fever. The past few yast years we've happily been there for you -- in 2006 for Verdi's Aida, in 2007 for Wagner's Tristan, and in 2008 for Verdi's Don Carlo.

This year, opening night was fittingly somber and sober, and Milan was decidedly austere in opening night hype. One exception we found (while dipping into G. Lorenzi's Coltellinaio for gifts on Via Montenapoleone) was the Rolex store, who had decorated their window displays in an eye-catching Scala theme. Not bad, but while O.C. doesn't mind her men in Rolex, she's definitely a (vintage) Cartier girl!

Ripped From The Headlines, Italy Reacts to La Scala's Opening Night

Italy's newspapers unanimously reported on Teatro alla Scala's season-opening Die Walkure, headlines trumpeting Barenboim's victory and the blazing protests. From Milan's Corriere della Sera (who, as per custom, create a special la prima insert) to Rome's La Repubblica, here are some of our favorites:

Click for more!

Video from Teatro alla Scala's Wagner Die Walkure la prima (Plus a Blooper)!

No matter how long and hard you've practiced putting together the prestigious opening night of La Scala's season-launching la prima (read OC's review below), always leave it to those goofy A.V. kids to screw something it up!

~*~*~

Now here are some new clips of last night's live broadcast from Teatro alla Scala for Wagner's Die Walkure.

 

OC's Review of Barenboim's Baby: Die Walkure's Premiere at La Scala's La Prima

 

Before the final curtain call on December 7th -- a few minutes after the conclusion of five ginormous hours of Wagner's Die Walkure that opened La Scala's new season on Milan's holiday to celebrate the city's patron saint, Sant'Ambrogio -- the night was engraved as a triumph before the first strains of Wagner's famous leitmotifs hit the adoring, vaguely taxidermied, Milanese public. Maestro Daniel Barenboim's victory was sealed when he stepped from the orchestra pit onto the platea floor to inaugurate the evening and spoke out, in Italian, quoting the Italian Constitution (art 9.) to defend the future of culture in Italy, and deafening applause ensued (which was also directed to Palco Reale where Milan's Mayor, Letizia Moratti kept company with Italy's President, Giorgio Napolitano).

As Barenboim entered the orchestra pit at the beginning of Act II and Act III, preemptive cheering for La Scala's "Maestro Scaligero" guaranteed the final triumph and today’s newspaper headlines, the Italian press creeming themselves in phrases like, "Il trionfo della Valchiria", "Quattordici minuti di applausi", "Scala, il trionfo di Barenboim" (massive headlines also addressed the out-of-control student protests which flared-up around Piazza della Scala/Palazzo Marino where the city's most official post-opera Gala takes place.

Milan's La Scala Opening Night in Photos

 
Horses to greet us as we walk to the theater

La Scala's opening night -- on the feast day of the city's patron saint, St. Ambrogio -- dazzles, the furs thick, the family jewels bright, the hairstyles even p0rnier. Here's a tease of what happens in Milan's elegant creams, reds and gold-leaf opera house. Corriere della Sera's photos are here; La Repubblica's; La Stampa's.

 

 

President of the Italian Republic, Napolitano with his wife; Milan's Mayor Letizia Moratti and Scala's GM Stephane Lissner.

 

Gabriella Dompé and Marta Brivio Sforza

 

Valeria Marini

 

Mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti

 

Faded muse to everyone fabulous, Marta Marzotto. 

Barenboim Quotes the Constitution at La Scala's La Prima

Last night under a rain-soaked Teatro alla Scala with the echoes of protesters across Piazza della Scala, Guy Cassiers' new production of Die Walkure opened the Milanese opera house's 2010/11 season to a coiffed and couture'd crowd. Before Daniel Barenboim, "Maestro Scaligero", wielded his baton to deliver a stunning interpretation of Wagner's opera (more on that later) he addressed the crowd. Speaking in Italian, he briefly talked about the uncertain future of Italian opera and Europe's shakey (at best) culture scene. Pimping or earnest? OC's in the middle, but Scala's crowds nor the loggione disagreed and Barenboim's speech was met with wild applause, bravos and even an old lady from the gallerie shouted "Viva il presidente".

Barenboim was speaking, elegantly, in protest of Decreto Bondi -- named after Silvio Berlusconi's Culture Minister, Sandro Bondi, who was conveniently absent for la prima (he said he was detained due to voting...you can read OC's analysis on Decreto Bondi here) -- which passed into law over the summer, Barenboim said that he was very happy and honored to be leading La Scala for La prima and to be "Maestro Scaligero" of the opera house, but all of his colleagues have been worried about the future of opera and culture in Italy and Europe.

He then quoted Article 9 of the Constitution, which references the rights of the Italian Republic to promote culture and scientific research. Clip above of the event.

Radvanovsky Jumps into La Scala Tosca in 2011

(Above: Sondra Radvanovsky as Amelia in LOC's current new production of Un Ballo in Maschera. Dan Rest/Lyric Opera of Chicago)

Sondra Radvanovsky a.k.a. ~The Rad~ is coming to Milan. She's stepping in a lead role at Teatro alla Scala for the February 2011 Puccini Tosca. The American soprano is filling-in for the originally-cast Austrian soprano Martina Serafin (we wrote about it here). Win/win yay/yay since young conductor Omer Meir Wellber will be leading the Luc Bondy production. The Rad splits lead duties with Oksana Dyka; Cavaradossi is Jonas Kaufmann and Marco Berti; and Scarpia is Zeljko Lucic and Bryn Terfel. The Rad will be singing Tosca at Scala for only her second time** her third time on stage (the first time was Opera Colorado last season) which made for XdoubleX [c-o-l-o] R-A-D [o]. Rad-O.

**The Rad will be singing Tosca at The Metropolitan Opera in January 2011, so by the time she's in Milan a month later, it will be her 3rd time.