Cecilia Bartoli has cancelled her participation in the baroque trilogy at La Scala, which was created around her. The project will present three Handel operas over the next three seasons, in the autumn of 2019 (Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare in Egitto), 2020 (Semele) and 2021 (Ariodante).When tickets went on sale yesterday for Robert Carsen’s new production of Giulio Cesare … [Read more...] about Cecilia Bartoli pulls out of her Baroque project at La Scala in October
La Scala
Video: Carla Fracci and Roberto Bolle dance Le Spectre de la rose, 1998
Shortly before Carla Fracci's 62nd birthday, she and 23-year-old Roberto Bolle went to Toyko for the 14th Toyko Summer Music Festival dedicated to Diaghilev and 20th Century Ballet. The young star had been promoted to principal dancer at La Scala in 1996 and had already embarked on an international freelance career.On 9 and 10 July 1998 they danced Le Spectre de la rose. I … [Read more...] about Video: Carla Fracci and Roberto Bolle dance Le Spectre de la rose, 1998
Jessica Pratt at La Scala – the recital platform is a harsh judge
Jessica Pratt must be a nice woman: a feet-on-the-floor, smiley, let’s-get-this-job-done kind of girl. Her recital at La Scala felt like watching your sis’ on stage. In fact, a lot of the audience were obviously friends or people who thought of her as a friend, and there was a standing ovation at the end which doesn’t happen in Milan unless, maybe, it’s a farewell performance … [Read more...] about Jessica Pratt at La Scala – the recital platform is a harsh judge
La Scala Ballet Season 2019 – 2020
This morning, Frédéric Olivieri, director of La Scala’s ballet company, announced the theatre's 2019-2020 season:Sylvia14 December 2019 – 14 January 2020Music: Léo Delibes Choreography: Manuel Legris based on Louis Mérante and others Story and libretto: Manuel Legris and Jean-François Vazelle based on Jules Barbier and Jacques de Reinach Sets and costumes: Luisa … [Read more...] about La Scala Ballet Season 2019 – 2020
McGregor’s Woolf Works thrills and enthralls at La Scala
The La Scala Ballet usually fields a first cast, and several alternative casts, but not with Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works – here it was very much a case of a first cast and a second cast. The first featured two guests from the original Royal Opera House production from 2015 – Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli – and most of the company’s principal dancers; the second cast … [Read more...] about McGregor’s Woolf Works thrills and enthralls at La Scala
Dancing Times, May edition – including Gramilano’s Danza in Italia column reviewing world premieres of Winterreise and Carmen
Dancing Times’ May issue is out now, with a glorious cover featuring Margot Fonteyn – the only dancer to be given the title prima ballerina assoluta by The Royal Ballet – who was born 100 years ago on 18 May.The magazine celebrates the centenary of Fonteyn's birth with articles by The Royal Ballet’s director Kevin O’Hare, dance critic Alastair Macaulay, and the Royal Academy … [Read more...] about Dancing Times, May edition – including Gramilano’s Danza in Italia column reviewing world premieres of Winterreise and Carmen
La Scala’s Timofej Andrijashenko to guest as Romeo with The Royal Ballet
La Scala Principal Dancer Timofej Andrijashenko will dance Romeo at The Royal Opera House in London on 27 April and 4 May alongside Melissa Hamilton.The director of The Royal Ballet, Kevin O’Hare, was present at La Scala’s opening of Wayne McGregor’s ballet Woolf Works earlier this month on 7 April and saw Andrijashenko dancing the role of Septimus in the work’s first part, I … [Read more...] about La Scala’s Timofej Andrijashenko to guest as Romeo with The Royal Ballet
The play Quartet and the Giuseppe Verdi Rest Home, both in Milan
The Casa di Riposo per Musicisti (Rest Home for Musicians) in Milan is known simply as Casa Verdi (The Verdi Home) and, although Giuseppe Verdi never lived there, his body is buried there, together with that of his wife, Giuseppina Strepponi (the first Abigaille in the premiere of the composer’s Nabucco at La Scala in 1842).The performing rights of Verdi’s operas paid for the … [Read more...] about The play Quartet and the Giuseppe Verdi Rest Home, both in Milan
Franco Zeffirelli, at 96, on Anna Magnani and Maria Callas, his career, and old age
On 21 June Franco Zeffirelli’s new production of La traviata opens at Verona’s gigantic arena. He’s 96.On Anna Magnani and Maria CallasAnna Magnani and Maria Callas were two goddesses but with difficult characters. Anna wanted to see me and asked to come to dinner, as long we could be alone so that we could chat easily. I said ok, but shortly after Maria called me, needing … [Read more...] about Franco Zeffirelli, at 96, on Anna Magnani and Maria Callas, his career, and old age
First photos of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli and Company dancers
These are the first photos of La Scala's restaging of Wayne McGregor's Woolf Works created for The Royal Ballet in 2015. The work was seen again in London in 2017, and in Milan, two of the original interpreters- Alessandra Ferri and Federico Bonelli - reprise their roles.The photos are accompanied by extracts of a 2017 interview by The Royal Ballet with the work's composer … [Read more...] about First photos of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works at La Scala with Alessandra Ferri, Federico Bonelli and Company dancers