A pleasing new season at La Scala seems to tick all the right boxes, with half the programming dedicated to the Italian repertoire, some rarities, important international operas and a world premiere. The season will also mark the 40th Anniversary of Riccardo Chailly's collaboration with the theatre, and the 95th birthday of Franco Zeffirelli.
The 2017-2018 Season kicks off with Andrea Chénier on the traditional date, Milan's Saint's Day, 7 December. Chailly will conduct Anna Netrebko, who will be making her debut in the role of Maddalena di Coigny, alongside her husband Yusif Eyvazov who is already at work with Chailly on preparing the title role. Luca Salsi, Annalisa Stroppa and Mariana Pentcheva complete the cast. Long-time La Scala collaborator Margherita Palli will design the sets and i twill be directed by Mario Martone.
Federico Tiezzi's successful production of Simon Boccanegra will be back with Leo Nucci, just a couple of weeks before his 76th birthday. Krassimira Stoyanova, after her phenomenally successful recital earlier this year, will sing Amelia, and Myung-Whun Chung will conduct.
John Fulljames's Royal Opera House production of Orphée et Eurydice, again with the Hofesh Shechter Dance Company and Juan Diego Flórez. At La Scala, Christiane Karg will sing Eurydice with Michele Mariotti in the pit.
Chailly will conduct Don Pasquale. Davide Livermore's new production will see Ambrogio Maestri working with Chailly for the first time, and Norina will be sung by Rosa Feola, with René Barbera (Ernesto) and Mattia Olivieri (Malatesta).
Another new production follows with Francesca da Rimini which hasn't been seen at La Scala since 1959, with Magda Olivero and Mario del Monaco. David Pountney will direct and Fabio Luisi returns to La Scala to conduct. Maria José Siri, after her success singing Butterfly to open the current season, will be Francesca with Roberto Aronica as Paolo.
Lila De Nobili's sumptuous designs for Aida will return to mark Zeffirelli's 95th birthday. His classic and popular production will feature Stoyanova, Fabio Sartori who will alternate with Marcelo Álvarez, and Violeta Urmana. 87-year-old Nello Santi will conduct.
Schubert's Fierrabras has never been performed at La Scala and Peter Stein's Salzburg Festival production will see Daniel Harding conduct a cast which includes Anett Fritsch, Dorothea Röschmann, Markus Werba and Bernard Richter.
Deborah Warner's Fidelio, which was Daniel Barenboim's last season-opener before leaving La Scala, in 2014, returns with Simone Schneider as Leonore, Stuart Skelton as Florestan and Don Pizarro will be sung by Luca Pisaroni.
At La Scala, on 17 October 1827, Bellini watched over the world premiere of his opera Il pirata. It hasn't been performed at the theatre for 60 years, since Maria Callas gave her legendary performances. Now Sonya Yoncheva, Covent Garden's recent Norma, bravely takes up the role. Christof Loy's new production will be conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Piero Pretti and Nicola Alaimo are also in the cast.
Cherubini's last opera, Alì Babà e i quaranta ladroni (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves) will receive a staging from Liliana Cavani who will be working with students from La Scala's prestigious vocal academy from January before the opera opens in September.
A new production by Sven-Eric Bechtolf of Verdi's Ernani will be conducted by Ádám Fischer. A strong cast features Francesco Meli, Ailyn Pérez, Simone Piazzola and Ildar Abdrazakov.
Diego Fasolis makes a return to La Scala to conduct the orchestra on period instruments for Mozrt's La finta giardiniera. It is the Glyndebourne Festival production by Frederic Wake-Walker. Many of the cast are currently singing in the current Don Giovanni revival: Kresimir Spicer, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, Anett Fritsch, Bernard Richter, Lucia Cirillo, Giulia Semenzato, and Mattia Olivieri.
Patrice Chéreau's last opera production, Strauss's Elektra, was directed when he was already ill. Christoph von Dohnányi conducts this revival, and Ricarda Merbeth, Waltraud Meier, and Michael Volle are among the cast.
The season closes with the first opera written by Rumanian composer, György Kurtág. Fin de partie is based on the Samuel Beckett play. Kurtág will be 92 when it opens in November 2018. The cast are already working on the fiendishly difficult score. Frode Olsen, Leigh Melrose, Hilary Summers and Leonardo Cortellazzi are the brave but fortunate cast. Markus Stenz will conduct and the production will be by Pierre Audi.
The Recital Series features Michele Pertusi, Sonya Yoncheva, Diana Damrau, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Olga Peretyatko, Ildar Abdrazakov, and Michael Volle.
OPERA SEASON 2017 – 2018
3 December: Preview for Young People
7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 December 2017; 2, 5 January 2018
Umberto Giordano
Andrea Chénier
Conductor Riccardo Chailly
Director Mario Martone
Sets Margherita Palli
Costumes Ursula Patzak
Lighting Pasquale Mari
Yusif Eyvazov, Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Annalisa Stroppa, Mariana Pentcheva
NEW PRODUCTION
19, 21, 23, 28, 31 January; 2, 4, 11 February 2018
Johann Strauss
Die Fledermaus
Conductor Zubin Mehta
Director Cornelius Obonya
Co-director Carolin Pienkos
Sets and Costumes Heike Scheele
Choreography Heinz Spoerli
Video Alex Scherpink
Peter Sonn, Eva Mei, Markus Werba, Michael Kraus, Daniela Fally, Elena Maximova, Giorgio Berrugi, Kresimir Spicer, Nino Frassica
NEW PRODUCTION
8, 10, 13, 16, 20, 22 February; 1, 4 March 2018
Simon Boccanegra
Conductor Myung-Whun Chung
Director Federico Tiezzi
Sets Pier Paolo Bisleri
Costumes Giovanna Buzzi
Lighting Marco Filibeck
Leo Nucci, Krassimira Stoyanova, Fabio Sartori, Dmitry Belosselskiy, Dalibor Jenis
Co-production with Staatsoper Unter den Linden di Berlino
24, 28 febbraio; 3, 6, 11, 14, 17 marzo 2018
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Orphée et Eurydice
Conductor Michele Mariotti
Director John Fulljames
Choreography Hofesh Shechter
Sets and Costumes Conor Murphy
Lighting Lee Curran
Juan Diego Flórez, Christiane Karg, Fatma Said
Hofesh Shechter Dance Company
Royal Opera House production
3, 6, 11, 14, 17, 19, 24, 28 April; 4 May 2018
Gaetano Donizetti
Don Pasquale
Conductor Riccardo Chailly
Director Davide Livermore
Sets Davide Livermore and Giò Forma
Costumes Gianluca Falaschi
Ambrogio Maestri, Rosa Feola, René Barbera, Mattia Olivieri
NEW PRODUCTION
15, 18, 21, 26, 29 April; 2, 6, 10, 13 May 2018
Riccardo Zandonai
Francesca da Rimini
Conductor Fabio Luisi
Director David Pountney
Sets Leslie Travers
Costumes Marie-Jeanne Lecca
Maria José Siri, Roberto Aronica, Gabriele Viviani, Luciano Ganci
NEW PRODUCTION
8, 12, 15, 18, 27, 31 May; 3 June 2018
Giuseppe Verdi
Aida
In occasion of Franco Zeffirelli's 95th birthday
Conductor Nello Santi
Director Franco Zeffirelli
Sets and Costumes Lila De Nobili
Krassimira Stoyanova, Fabio Sartori/ Marcelo Álvarez, Violeta Urmana, George Gagnidze, Vitalij Kowaljow, Carlo Colombara, Céline Mellon
5, 9, 12, 15, 19, 27, 30 June 2018
Franz Schubert
Fierrabras
Conductor Daniel Harding
Director Peter Stein
Sets Ferdinand Wögerbauer
Costumes Anna Maria Heinreich
Lighting Joachim Bart
Anett Fritsch, Dorothea Röschmann, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Bernard Richter, Tomasz Konieczny, Markus Werba, Peter Sonn
Salzburg Festival production
18, 21, 25, 28 June; 2, 5, 7 July 2018
Ludwig van Beethoven
Fidelio
Conductor Myung-Whun Chung
Director Deborah Warner
Sets and Costumes Chloé Obolensky
Lighting Jean Kalman
Stuart Skelton, Simone Schneider, Eva Liebau, Stephen Milling, Luca Pisaroni, Martin Gantner, Martin Piskorski
29 June; 3, 6, 9, 12, 14, 17, 19 July 2018
Vincenzo Bellini
Il pirata
Conductor Riccardo Frizza
Director Christof Loy
Sets Raimund Voigt
Costumes Ursula Renzenbrink
Lighting Olaf Winter
Sonya Yoncheva, Piero Pretti, Nicola Alaimo
NEW PRODUCTION
1, 3, 5, 9, 14, 17, 19, 21, 25, 27 September 2018
Progetto Accademia
Luigi Cherubini
Alì Babà e i quaranta ladroni
Conductor Paolo Carignani
Director Liliana Cavani
Sets Leila Fteita
Soloists from La Scala's Academy
NEW PRODUCTION
29 September; 2, 6, 9, 13, 18, 22, 25 October 2018
Giuseppe Verdi
Ernani
Conductor Ádám Fischer
Director Sven-Eric Bechtolf
Sets and Costumes Julian Crouch
Francesco Meli, Ailyn Pérez, Simone Piazzola, Ildar Abdrazakov
NEW PRODUCTION
8, 11, 16, 20, 23, 26, 29 October 2018
La finta giardiniera
Conductor Diego Fasolis
Director Frederic Wake-Walker
Sets and Costumes Antony McDonald
Lighting Lucy Carter
Kresimir Spicer, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, Anett Fritsch, Bernard Richter, Lucia Cirillo, Giulia Semenzato, Mattia Olivieri
Glyndebourne Festival production
4, 7, 10, 14, 18, 23, 29 November 2018
Richard Strauss
Elektra
Conductor Christoph von Dohnányi
Director Patrice Chéreau
Sets Richard Peduzzi
Costumes Caroline de Vivaise
Ricarda Merbeth, Waltraud Meier, Regine Hangler, Michael Volle, Roberto Saccà
Co-production with Aix en Provence, Metropolitan Opera, Finnish National Opera, Staatsoper Under den Linden, Gran Teatre del Liceu
15, 17, 20, 22, 24, 25 November 2018
György Kurtág
Fin de partie
Dramatised by György Kurtág from Samuel Beckett's play
Conductor Markus Stenz
Director Pierre Audi
Sets and Costumes Christof Hetzer
Lighting Jean Kalman
Frode Olsen, Leigh Melrose, Hilary Summers, Leonardo Cortellazzi
WORLD PREMIERE
Co-production with De Nationale Opera, Amsterdam
RECITAL SEASON 2017 – 2018
15 January 2018
Michele Pertusi, bass
Raffaele Cortesi, pianoforte
Mozart, Bellini, Verdi, Mascagni, Denza, Donaudy, Tosti
11 February 2018
Sonya Yoncheva, soprano
Mzia Bachtouridze, pianoforte
Puccini
12 March 2018
Diana Damrau, soprano
Helmut Deutsch, pianoforte
Wolf, Strauss
17 June 2018
Anna Caterina Antonacci, soprano
Donald Sulzen, pianoforte
Respighi, Poulenc, Hahn
1 July 2018
Olga Peretyatko, soprano
Giulio Zappa, pianoforte
Schubert, Liszt, Verdi, Glinka, Rachmaninov, Rimskij-Korsakov
5 November 2018
Ildar Abdrazakov, bass
Mzia Bachtouridze, pianoforte
Mozart, Schubert, Dunaevskij, Khrennikov, Ropartz, Kabalevskij
26 November 2018
Michael Volle, baritone
Andrea Jonasson, speaker
Helmut Deutsch, pianoforte
Johannes Brahms: Die schöne Magelone op. 33
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
