La Scala in Milan is arguably the most prestigious opera house in the world and the spiritual home of Italian opera. Opened in 1778 on the site of the former Santa Maria alla Scala church (whence its name), the house has been the site of more canonical Italian operatic premieres than any other: Rossini's La gazza ladra, Bellini's Norma, Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia, Verdi's Nabucco, Otello, and Falstaff, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Turandot, Ponchielli's La Gioconda—the list extends through the entire Italian repertoire. The current building, with its 2,030 seats across six tiers of boxes, was restored and modernised from 2002 to 2004. The season opening on 7 December, the feast day of Milan's patron Saint Ambrose, is an event of Italian national significance comparable to no opera opening elsewhere. The Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala perform at an international level, and the house is an obligatory destination for every major conductor—from Toscanini through Abbado and Muti to Riccardo Chailly.
La Scala has the most feared audience in the opera world: the Loggionisti in the upper galleries are notorious for their merciless boos—even stars like Roberto Alagna have been booed off the stage.
At a glance
- Type
- Opera house
- Location
- Milan, Italy
More venues in Milan
- Piccolo Teatro di Milano · Theatre, Milan
More venues in Italy
- Arena di Verona · Opera house, Verona
- Artisti in Piazza · Multi-genre theatre, Pennabilli
- Gran Teatro all'Aperto Giacomo Puccini · Opera house, Torre del Lago
- Sferisterio di Macerata · Opera house, Macerata
- Teatro Alighieri · Opera house, Ravenna
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- Teatro Carlo Felice · Opera house, Genua
- Teatro Coccia · Opera house, Novara
- Teatro Comunale Claudio Abbado · Opera house, Ferrara