La Scala cancels its famous opening night of the opera season

The Board of Directors of Teatro alla Scala met today and, due to the current epidemiological situation and the continually tightening regulatory framework, has decided to cancel the planned opening of the 2020-2021 season at the opera house.

It understood that the conditions do not exist to rehearse and produce a production which would be open to the public and also be expected to be at the level for the opening of an opera season at La Scala.

The opening of an opera season is an important event at any opera house, but at La Scala it is indeed something special. It is always on 7 December, Milan's saint's day. St Ambrose was the bishop of Milan in the 4th century, highly influential, and became one of the four fathers of the Catholic Church. He built one of the most ancient churches in Milan, the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio.

A new production of Lucia di Lammermoor was planned for 7 December this year with Lisette Oropesa in the title role, and rehearsals were taking place up until today. The performances scheduled for 7 December and the following days are now postponed.

The board has asked Intendant and Artistic Director Dominique Meyer to develop an alternative event which, even without an audience, can be broadcast on television, as is the custom, and shared worldwide.

Gramilano( Editor )

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.