Teatro “Alla Scala”
The simple construction, in Italian Renaissance style, is situated on one side of Piazza della Scala. For the Milanese, and not only for them, it is familiarly known as “La Scala”, the most famous Ambrosian institution in the World, one of the reasons why thousand of persons visit Milan. The Architect, Giuseppe Piermarini, started the new Theatre in 1776, in the area of the Church of S. Maria della Scala, thus named as Beatrice Regina della Scala, wife of Bernabò Visconti, had it erected in the 17th century.
The “Scala” was the first theatre to have a portico for carriages, which was later widely imitated not only in Italy.
The interior, also studied by Piermarini on the example of the greatest theatres of the era, presents some brilliant technical solutions, such as the horseshoe shape taken from Teodoli’s Teatro Argentina in Rome, and the acoustic vault (in wood, slightly curved, devoid of decorations). The present decoration dates back to 1830 and is the work of Perego. The opening of the Theatre took place on August 3, 1778, with the opera “Europa Riconosciuta” of Antonio Salieri. In its two centuries of life, “La Scala” has become the sacrarium of lyrics, staging “Premières” of Rossini, Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini, Mascagni e Boito.
Heavily bombed during the last war, faithfully reconstructed the Theatre re - opened in 1946, with the Rossini opera “La Gazza Ladra” directed by Arturo Toscanini.
The lyric season of Teatro della Scala traditionally opens on December 7 and closes towards the end of May; in the months of June - September - October and November it is famed for its concerts and ballets.
Thursday
March 11, 2010
04:43 AM
