Aida suspended as entire La Scala company sent home in quarantine
After tenor Francesco Meli tested positive for Covid-19 and was substituted yesterday by Jonas Kaufmann, La Scala arranged for the whole Aida cast to be tested. The first of the swab tests was negative for the whole company, but this morning there was a positive result from the second swab.
The theatre alerted the health authorities who ordered a period of quarantine for the entire company.
Consequently, the planned performance of Aida in concert this evening cannot take place. It will be replaced by a concert of arias and choruses from Aida, Nabucco and La bohème. Instead of Riccardo Chailly, Fabio Luisi will be on the podium, but it hasn’t been announced with which orchestra. The singers, who were not involved with Aida, are Anita Hartig, Aida Garifullina, Jonas Kaufmann and Simone Piazzola.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
