La Scala Opera Season 2023-2024

The 2023-2024 Opera Season of the Teatro alla Scala will present 14 productions, 10 of which are new: 2 operas by Giuseppe Verdi and 2 by Giacomo Puccini, and one opera each by Antonio Cesti, Luigi Cherubini, Gaetano Donizetti, Ruggero Leoncavallo and Pietro Mascagni, Jules Massenet, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gioachino Rossini, Nino Rota, Richard Strauss, and Richard Wagner.

Alongside La Scala's Music Director Riccardo Chailly, will be Alain Altinoglu, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Michele Mariotti, Ingo Metzmacher, Riccardo Muti, Kirill Petrenko, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christian Thielemann, Lorenzo Viotti, and in the baroque repertoire Giovanni Antonini, William Christie, Marc Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe.

New productions are by Daniele Abbado, Irina Brook, Robert Carsen, Davide Livermore, Christof Loy, David McVicar, Damiano Michieletto, Chiara Muti, Lluis Pasqual and the young Mario Acampa, while among the revivals are directors Harry Kupfer, Mario Martone and Giorgio Strehler.

A long list of singers includes the sopranos Eleonora Buratto, Rosa Feola, Sonya Yoncheva, Anna Netrebko, Lisette Oropesa, Jessica Pratt, Marina Rebeka, Mariangela Sicilia and Krassimira Stoyanova; the mezzo-sopranos Elīna Garanča, Stephanie d'Oustrac and Ekaterina Semenchuk; tenors Roberto Alagna, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Benjamin Bernheim, Lawrence Brownlee, Charles Castronovo, Yusif Eyvazov, Brian Jagde, Jonas Kaufmann, Dmitry Korchak, Francesco Meli and Fabio Sartori; baritones Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Ambrogio Maestri, Mattia Olivieri and Luca Salsi; and basses Ain Anger, Michele Pertusi and Michael Volle.

DON CARLO

Giuseppe Verdi
Opera in four acts
Libretto by François-Joseph Méry and Camille Du Locle
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 10 December 2023 to 2 January 2024
ON SALE ON 19 OCTOBER 2023 10:00

Conductor — RICCARDO CHAILLY
Staging — LLUÍS PASQUAL
Sets — DANIEL BIANCO
Costumes — FRANCA SQUARCIAPINO
Lights — PASCAL MÉRAT
Video — FRANC ALEU
Choreographic movements — NURIA CASTEJÓN

Cast
Philip II, King of Spain — René Pape
Don Carlo, Infante of Spain — Francesco Meli
Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa — Luca Salsi
The Grand Inquisitor — Ain Anger
A monk — Jongmin Park
Elizabeth of Valois — Anna Netrebko (10, 13, 16, 19, 22 Dec.)
Maria José Siri (30 Dec., 2 Jan.)
Princess Eboli — Elīna Garanča (10, 13, 16, 19, 22 Dec.)
Ekaterina Semenchuk (30 Dec., 2 Jan.)
Thibault, page to Elizabeth — Elisa Verzier
The Count of Lerma / Royal Herald — Jinxu Xiahou
A Voice from Heaven — Rosalia Cid

In brief
After retracing Verdi's early creative development with season openings dedicated to Giovanna d'Arco, Attila, and Macbeth, Riccardo Chailly returns to a masterpiece of the composer's mature years, Don Carlo (a video is available of a memorable performance several years ago in Amsterdam). Schiller's superb political drama composed for Paris was adapted for La Scala by Verdi and has remained a must for the theatre's Maestri, from Tullio Serafin and Arturo Toscanini to Claudio Abbado, who conducted it twice for the Scala openings on December 7 in 1968 and 1977, and Riccardo Muti. The new production brings back to La Scala Lluís Pasqual, a conductor who has made a reflection on the Baroque a constant in his work from his experience at Teatre Llure of Barcelona to his years with Strehler at the Piccolo and at the Odéon in Paris.

MÉDÉE

Luigi Cherubini
Opera in three acts
Libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann and Nicolas Étienne Framéry
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Teatro alla Scala New Production
From 14 to 28 January 2024
ON SALE ON 25 OCTOBER 2023 10:00
Conductor — MICHELE GAMBA
Staging — DAMIANO MICHIELETTO
Sets — PAOLO FANTIN
Costumes — CARLA TETI
Lights — ALESSANDRO CARLETTI
Dramaturgy — MATTIA PALMA

Cast
Médée — Sonya Yoncheva
Jason — Stanislas de Barbeyrac
Crèon — Nahuel Di Pierro
Dircè — Martina Russomanno
Nèris — Ambroisine Bré

In brief
The tragic masterpiece by Luigi Cherubini, inspired by Euripides and Corneille and presented for the first time in the form of an opéra-comique in Paris in 1797 with spoken recitative, enjoyed enduring success in the nineteenth century. However, the opera most familiar to modern audiences is the Italian version of 1909 with the spurious recitatives of Franz Lachner, most notably exalted in the spectacular interpretation by Maria Callas, who triumphed on Piermarini's stage in 1953 under Leonard Bernstein and in 1961 with Thomas Schippers. La Scala returns for the first time to the French version in a new production by Damiano Michieletto that focuses attention on the children of the sorceress, victims of her blind fury. On the podium is Michele Gamba, who returns to La Scala after the success of the new Rigoletto directed by Mario Martone, and his acclaim at the Metropolitan.

SIMON BOCCANEGRA

Giuseppe Verdi
Opera with a prologue and three acts
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and Arrigo Boito
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 1 to 24 February 2024
ON SALE ON 31 OCTOBER 2023 10:00

Conductor — LORENZO VIOTTI
Staging — DANIELE ABBADO
Sets — DANIELE ABBADO
ANGELO LINZALATA
Costumes — NANÀ CECCHI
Lights — ALESSANDRO CARLETTI

Cast
Simon Boccanegra — Luca Salsi
Jacopo Fiesco — Ain Anger
Paolo Albiani — Roberto De Candia
Pietro — Andrea Pellegrini
Amelia (Maria) — Eleonora Buratto (1, 4 , 11, 14, 17 Feb.)
Anita Hartig (21, 24 Feb.)
Gabriele Adorno — Charles Castronovo (1, 4 , 11, 14, 17 Feb.)
Matteo Lippi (21, 24 Feb.)

In brief
A few weeks after Don Carlo, another Verdi drama on the conflicts and solitude of power unfolds on Piermarini's stage. A complex, dark opera with a convoluted plot, Simon Boccanegra was presented in its final form at La Scala in 1881 after a thorough revision by the composer, assisted by Arrigo Boito. However, it would not become a stable feature of the repertoire until it was restaged by Gianandrea Gavazzeni in 1965, and especially with the truly historic production conducted by Claudio Abbado and staged by Giorgio Strehler to inaugurate the 1971-1972 Season. Following Federico Tiezzi's staging in 2010, this new production is entrusted to Lorenzo Viotti, the chief conductor of the Dutch National Opera who has already achieved an artistic maturity beyond his years, with Daniele Abbado directing.

DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Singspiel in three acts
Libretto by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner
reworked by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie the Younger
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Teatro alla Scala Production

From 25 February to 10 March 2024
ON SALE ON 28 NOVEMBER 2023 10:00

Conductor — THOMAS GUGGEIS
Staging — GIORGIO STREHLER
Sets and costumes — LUCIANO DAMIANI
Lights — MARCO FILIBECK

Cast
Selim — Sven-Eric Bechtolf
Konstanze — Jessica Pratt
Blonde — Jasmine Delfs
Belmonte — Daniel Behle
Pedrillo — Michael Laurenz
Osmin — Peter Rose
Mute servant — Marco Merlin

In brief
The brilliant production of The Abduction from the Seraglio directed by Giorgio Strehler with sets designed by Luciano Damiani for the Salzburg Festival, reprised in Florence and a part of the La Scala repertoire since 1972, is a fundamental page in the history of theatre. The balanced combination of irony and tenderness, and the elegance of the silhouettes that emphasize the interplay of the arias and spoken dialogue have not lost their poetic power. Bringing new life to the work is one of the most brilliant conductors of the new generation, Thomas Guggeis, former assistant to Daniel Barenboim in Berlin and General Music Director of Oper Frankfurt starting with the 2023-2024 Season.

GUILLAUME TELL

Gioachino Rossini
Opéra in four acts
Libretto by Étienne de Jouy
and Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Students of Teatro alla Scala Academy's Ballet School
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 20 March to 10 April 2024
ON SALE ON 10 JANUARY 2024 10:00

Conductor — MICHELE MARIOTTI
Staging — CHIARA MUTI
Sets — ALESSANDRO CAMERA
Costumes — URSULA PATZAK
Lights — VINCENT LONGUEMARE
Choreography — SILVIA GIORDANO

Cast
Arnold Melchtal — Dmitry Korchak
Guillaume Tell — Michele Pertusi
Walter Fürst — Nahuel Di Pierro
Melchtal — Evgeny Stavinsky
Gessler — Luca Tittoto
Ruodi — Dave Monaco
Mathilde — Marina Rebeka
Jemmy — Martina Russomanno
Hedwige — Géraldine Chauvet
A hunter — Huanhong Li*

In brief
After a many-year hiatus, an opera seria by Gioachino Rossini returns to La Scala: Guillaume Tell. In his final masterpiece, the composer from Pesaro groomed his language for Parisian audiences, adapting it to the new romantic sensibility before his farewell to the scenes. La Scala now presents the work for the first time in the original French version. It is conducted by Michele Mariotti, consummate interpreter of Rossini and a fellow Pesarese. The director is Chiara Muti, who developed her talent at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano before going on to create opera productions for the Opera di Roma, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, and the Regio of Turin.

LA RONDINE

Giacomo Puccini
Opera in three acts
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 4 to 20 April 2024
ON SALE ON 10 JANUARY 2024 10:00

Conductor — RICCARDO CHAILLY
Staging — IRINA BROOK
Sets and costumes — PATRICK KINMONTH

Cast
Magda — Mariangela Sicilia
Lisette — Rosalia Cid
Ruggero — Matteo Lippi
Prunier — Giovanni Sala
Rambaldo — Pietro Spagnoli

In brief
Riccardo Chailly continues his reconnaissance of the Puccini catalogue in the centennial of the composer's death with one of his less frequently performed titles. A work that was long and difficult to create, La rondine is Puccini's response to a request for an operetta from the Carltheater of Vienna in 1914: later re-thinkings and world events—most notably the outbreak of the First World War—transformed the project, which was finally premiered in Monte-Carlo in 1917. The ambiguous nature of the opera initially compromised its audience appeal, but the agonizing desperation of the melancholic score, running under a surface of sublime elegance, is now better appreciated, as did Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who conducted it in 1994.

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI

Pietro Mascagni / Ruggero Leoncavallo
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Treble Voices Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala Academy
Teatro alla Scala Production

From 16 April to 5 May 2024
ON SALE ON 16 JANUARY 2024 10:00

Conductor — GIAMPAOLO BISANTI
Staging — MARIO MARTONE
Sets — SERGIO TRAMONTI
Costumes — URSULA PATZAK
Lights — PASQUALE MARI

Cavalleria rusticana
Pietro Mascagni
Opera in one act
Libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci

Cast
Santuzza — Elīna Garanča (16, 18, 21, 23, 26, 28 Apr.)
Ekaterina Semenchuk (30 Apr., 2, 5 May)
Lola — Francesca Di Sauro
Turiddu — Brian Jagde
Alfio — Amartuvshin Enkhbat
Mamma Lucia — Elena Zilio

Pagliacci
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Opera in a prologue and two acts
Libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo

Cast
Nedda — Irina Lungu
Canio — Fabio Sartori
Tonio — Amartuvshin Enkhbat
Peppe — Jinxu Xiahou
Silvio — Mattia Olivieri

In brief
At times an innovative reading by the director succeeds in casting an entire repertoire in a new light: this has been the case with Mario Martone's interpretation of Verismo works such as La cena delle beffe, Andrea Chénier, and Fedora. His first step in this adventure was a diptych combining Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci with Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana in 2011, characterized by a streamlined realism.

DON PASQUALE

Gaetano Donizetti
Opera buffa in three acts
Libretto by Giovanni Ruffini and Gaetano Donizetti
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Teatro alla Scala Production

From 11 May to 4 June 2024
ON SALE ON 16 JANUARY 2024 10:00

Conductor — EVELINO PIDO'
Staging — DAVIDE LIVERMORE
Sets — DAVIDE LIVERMORE E GIÒ FORMA
Costumes — GIANLUCA FALASCHI
Lights — NICOLAS BOVEY
Video — D-WOK

Cast
Don Pasquale — Ambrogio Maestri
Norina — Andrea Carroll
Ernesto — Lawrence Brownlee
Malatesta — Mattia Olivieri

In brief
Davide Livermore's production sets Donizetti's bitter comedy in the melancholic atmospheres of the black and white films of Cinecittà. The many references to the history of Italian cinema do not detract from the immediacy and liveliness of the narrative, which unfolds amidst greyscale scenery—now dark, now pearly—designed by Livermore himself with Giò Forma, and animated by the contrast with the colourful costumes by Gianluca Falaschi. Memorable is Norina's fantastic flight over the Roman landscape in an Alfa Giulietta. The reprise is conducted by Evelino Pidò, and the protagonist roles are sung by Ambrogio Maestri, Andrea Carroll, Lawrence Brownlee, and Mattia Olivieri.

WERTHER

Jules Massenet
Drame lyrique in four acts
Libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra
Treble Voices Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala Academy
Teatro alla Scala New Production
Co-production with Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

From 10 June to 2 July 2024
ON SALE ON 13 MARCH 2024 10:00

Conductor — ALAIN ALTINOGLU
Staging and choreography — CHRISTOF LOY
Sets — JOHANNES LEIACKER
Costumes — ROBBY DUIVEMAN
Lights — EDRICH ROLAND

Cast
Werther — Benjamin Bernheim
Albert — Jean Sébastien Bou
Le Bailli — Armando Noguera
Schmidt — Rodolphe Briand
Johann — Alfonso Antoniozzi
Charlotte — Victoria Karkacheva
Sophie — Francesca Pia Vitale

In brief
In some ways, the translation of Goethe's novel into music by Jules Massenet in 1887 represents an almost miraculous recreation of settings and atmospheres; it is also a formidable vehicle for showcasing the tenor's art. Thus, it's no surprise that the last performance of the opera at La Scala, in 1980, had Georges Prêtre on the podium and Alfredo Kraus on stage. The new La Scala production is an occasion for the house debuts of a conductor and a director among the most prominent on the European scene. Alain Altinoglu, Musical Director of the Monnaie of Brussels, is a regular guest of orchestras such as the Wiener and the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Concertgebouw, while Christof Loy's intelligence, taste, and theatrical intuition have taken him to the world's preeminent theatres and festivals, from Paris to London and Salzburg.

TURANDOT

Giacomo Puccini
Opera in three acts and five scenes
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Treble Voices Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala Academy
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 25 June to 15 July 2024
ON SALE ON 27 MARCH 2024 10:00

Conductor — DANIEL HARDING
Staging — DAVIDE LIVERMORE
Sets and costumes — LIVERMORE & CUCCO
Lights — ANTONIO CASTRO

Cast
Princess Turandot — Anna Netrebko
The Emperor Altoum — Raúl Giménez
Timur — Vitalij Kowaljow
The Unknown Prince (Calaf) — Yusif Eyvazov (25, 28 Jun., 1, 4, 6, Jul.)
Roberto Alagna (9, 12, 15 Jul.)
Liù — Rosa Feola
Ping — Sung-Hwan Damien Park
Pang — Chuan Wang
Pong — Jinxu Xiahou
A Mandarin — Adriano Gramigni

In brief
The second Puccini title in the composer's death centennial year, Turandot marks the return with a work from the grand repertoire of Daniel Harding, notable for his revealing re-readings of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Italian repertoire. The British conductor, new Music Director of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, has a well-established artistic relationship with La Scala and its Orchestra dating back to 2005, when he conducted the opening performance of that season, Mozart's Idomeneo. This new production is directed by Davide Livermore, who has staged numerous acclaimed operas at La Scala in recent years and inaugurated four seasons in a row. In the most recent reprises of the opera, which Puccini left unfinished, Riccardo Chailly chose for the first time at La Scala the finale composed by Luciano Berio; this new production will use the finale by Franco Alfano.

IL CAPPELLO DI PAGLIA DI FIRENZE

Nino Rota
Opera in four acts and five scenes
Libretto by Ernesta and Nino Rota from Eugène Labiche and Marc Michel
Lyric Opera Soloists of the Teatro alla Scala Academy
Teatro alla Scala Academy Orchestra
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 4 to 18 September 2024
ON SALE ON 14 MAY 2024 10:00

Conductor — DONATO RENZETTI
Staging — MARIO ACAMPA
Sets — RICCARDO SGARAMELLA
Lights — ANDREA GIRETTI

In brief
Each year one of the productions of the Theatre programme is entrusted to the students of the La Scala Academy. In 2024 their project will be Il cappello di paglia di Firenze, an opera composed by Nino Rota in 1945 (but not performed for another ten years) with a libretto written in tandem with his mother. It is a light, enchanting comedy, which was staged at La Scala in 1998 by Bruno Campanella and Pier Luigi Pizzi, now in a new production by effervescent director Mario Acampa, who also directs the shows for children and teenagers in the “Great Operas for Children” cycle. On the podium is Donato Renzetti, an expert guide for budding talents.

L'ORONTEA

Antonio Cesti
Dramma in musica
Libretto by Giacinto Andrea Cicognini and Giovanni Filippo Apolloni
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 26 September to 5 October 2024
ON SALE ON 14 MAY 2024 10:00

Conductor — GIOVANNI ANTONINI
Staging — ROBERT CARSEN
Sets and costumes — GIDEON DAVEY
Lights — ROBERT CARSEN
and — PETER VAN PRAET

Cast
Orontea — Stéphanie d'Oustrac
Creonte — Mirco Palazzi
Silandra — Francesca Pia Vitale
Corindo — Hugh Cutting
Gelone — Luca Tittoto
Tibrino — Sara Blanch
Aristea — Marianna Pizzolato
Alidoro — Carlo Vistoli
Giacinta — Maria Nazarova

In brief
The project aiming to rediscover the Italian origins of opera and the limitless riches of the Baroque as it developed in Naples, Rome, and Venice has recently brought two premieres to the La Scala stage: La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli and Li zite 'ngalera by Leonardo Vinci. The exploration continues in 2024 with Orontea by Antonio Cesti; after its debut in Innsbruck in 1656, it became one of the most frequently performed operas of that century, thanks partly to the seductive immediacy of certain arias, before falling into undeserved oblivion. An important chapter in the rediscovery was the production staged by Bruno Bartoletti at the Piccola Scala in 1961 with mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza. The new La Scala production, conducted by the illustrious specialist Giovanni Antonini, marks the return of director Robert Carsen with a Baroque opera after his triumphant rendition of Händel's Giulio Cesare.

DER ROSENKAVALIER

Richard Strauss
Comic opera in three acts
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Treble Voices Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala Academy
Teatro alla Scala Production
Co-production with Salzburger Festspiele

From 12 to 29 October 2024
ON SALE ON 05 JUNE 2024 10:00

Conductor — KIRILL PETRENKO
Staging — HARRY KUPFER
revived by — DEREK GIMPEL
Sets — HANS SCHAVERNOCH
Costumes — YAN TAX
Lights — JUERGEN HOFFMAN
Video — THOMAS REIMER

Cast
The Marschallin — Krassimira Stoyanova
Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau — Günther Groissböck
Octavian — Kate Lindsey
Herr von Faninal — Johannes Martin Kränzle
Sophie — Sabine Devieilhe
Duenna Marianne Leitmetzerin — Caroline Wenborne
Valzacchi — Gerhard Siegel
Annina — Tanja Ariane Baumgartner
A police inspector — Alexandru Moisuc
Faninal's Major-Domo — Jörg Schneider
A notary — Bastian-Thomas Kohl
An innkeeper — Jörg Schneider
An singer — Piero Pretti
A milliner — Mariam Battistelli

In brief
Unquestionably the most eagerly awaited debut of the year on the podium of the La Scala Orchestra will be that of Kirill Petrenko, Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Trained in a wide-ranging opera repertoire in his years at the Komische Oper, Petrenko has chosen the crepuscular elegance of Strauss and Hofmannsthal's apologue on love and renunciation in eighteenth-century Vienna for his first performance at La Scala.

DAS RHEINGOLD (DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN)

Richard Wagner
Prologue in one act
Libretto by Richard Wagner
Teatro alla Scala Orchestra
Teatro alla Scala New Production

From 28 October to 10 November 2024
ON SALE ON 26 JUNE 2024 10:00

Conductor — CHRISTIAN THIELEMANN
Staging — DAVID MCVICAR
Sets — DAVID MCVICAR and HANNAH POSTLETHWAITE
Costumes — EMMA KINGSBURY
Lights — DAVID FINN
Video — KATY TUCKER
Choreography — ANDREW GEORGE
Master martial arts / circus performance — DAVID GREEVES

Cast
Wotan — Michael Volle
Donner — Andrè Schuen
Loge — Norbert Ernst
Alberich — Johannes Martin Kränzle
Mime — Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke
Fasolt — Jongmin Park
Fafner — Ain Anger
Fricka — Okka von der Damerau
Freia — Olga Bezsmertna
Erda — Christa Mayer
Woglinde — Andrea Carroll
Wellgunde — Svetlina Stoyanova
Flosshilde — Virginie Verrez

In brief
After ten years, Teatro alla Scala presents a new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen with a Maestro of absolute eminence in this repertoire, Christian Thielemann, who thus adds his name to a list of giants featuring the likes of Toscanini, De Sabata, Krauss, Furtwängler, Cluytens, Muti, and Barenboim. The direction will be entrusted to David McVicar, an internationally renowned director who has already staged a broad repertoire of operas at La Scala, ranging from Cavalli to Berlioz, Cilea, and Verdi. The Tetralogy will be completed in upcoming seasons with Die Walküre and Siegfried in 2025, and Götterdämmerung and two complete cycles in 2026.