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Teatro alla Scala

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Cantin2
Cantin2
First Reviewer
5 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
2
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7
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Editor Pick

I Hope the Fat Lady Never Sings There!

  • July 14, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by ChocolateLady from Jerusalem, Israel
I Hope the Fat Lady Never Sings There!

There is something very special about attending an opera at La Scalla that only a die hard opera lover can appreciate. It isn't that this is the most modern or fancy opera house in the world, but could be considered the most famous. La Scalla is, to put it simply, the HOME of opera.

I was lucky enough to see one amazing production of Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" and beforehand, spent most of the day in their museum and gift shop, which are no less fascinating than seeing the opera itself.

If you like opera, this is THE place to go see it. And even if you can't afford the really good seats, the ones on the sides aren't all that bad, even if they are somewhat uncomfortable.

So why the title? Well, we all know that it isn't over until the fat lady sings, and I hope it is never over for Alla Scalla!

La Scalla is located right in the heart of Milan and there's practically no way you can miss it - and even if you do, just stopping anyone on the street and asking will get you there, since everyone in Milan knows where this is. I should also mention that it is very near a covered shopping area that's very fancy but has a McDonald's - which seems to get filled with fancy dressed people before the showtime (I guess if you pay for tickets to see something at La Scalla you don't always have funds left over for a fancy dinner beforehand!).

Again, this is a "must see" for anyone who loves opera, but they also have classical concerts and ballet performances as well - depending on the time of year. If you can't find something you want to see (or just can afford the tickets), do try at least to visit the museum during the day (where they also take you inside the theater, if no rehersals are on at the time). The museum has costumes, instruments, photographs, flyers, paintings, posters and much more from throughout the theater's history. I'd say even those just interested in theater would find most of this interesting. And at the end of the visit, you can spend hours and hours in their giftshop that has one of the best collections of classical CD and DVDs as well as sheet music and no small amount of fun gifts.

While the entrance to the museum will give you a discount at the shop, this isn't a place to find bargains, and tickets for the theater are never cheap, but if you're willing to splurge, it is well worth the expense, as it is an experience you'll never forget.

I was a bit surprised that the house itself wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be from the outside - all the pictures I'd seen make it look very big, and yet it isn't tall at all. On the other hand, it has the Tardis-effect in that when you're inside it seems absolutely huge. Mind you, since the last renovations, getting upstairs to the upper levels of seats is a long and drawn out business and the elevators are small and slow, and there are no stairway options. But once you're seated the internal design is beautiful. I also found the individual folding translation screens to be a nice touch and while most of the opera we saw was in English, some of the dialogue was done in Italian and we did need these screens to keep up with what was going on during those bits. That's how operas are these days - they've been brought right in line with the 21st century.

La Scalla puts on not just operas, but also ballet and other types of concerts, but I'm afraid those looking for plays or rock music are out of luck - thankfully for me!

By the way, I should mention that their orchestra is marvelous and the cast we saw doing "Candide" were amazing. I only wish I could get that performance on CD or DVD! Would I go back again? In a heartbeat, and hang the cost. It was a whole day of just one enjoyment after another. Bellissima!

From journal My 50th Birthday Trip

La Scala

  • April 7, 2008
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Cantin2 from Quogue, New York
La Scala

If you are not fortunate enough to attend an opera or ballet performance at La Scala, you must at least take a glimpse of the theatre - this is possible as part of the museum admission - 5 Euros for adults/4 Euros for seniors.

La Scala museum is open most every day, but closes for an hour at 12:30PM - Make sure you allow yourself enough time so that you won't be escorted out too soon. We did not see any guided tours or guides when we were there - arrangements I'm sure can be made. It was easy enough to read(in a few languages) about composers, musicians, performers, instruments or painting displayed in each room.

At one point during your visit, a guard will open a "viewing box" for you to see the theatre- an orchestra was practicing during our visit. You only spend a couple of minutes there and cannot use cameras, but it is magnificent.....the immenseness alone is breathaking.....a hugh chandelier.....the many, many, many opera boxes - gold with red velvet curtains - row upon row- upon row....Probably 9 tiers of boxes surround the entire theatre, yet you feel so close to the stage. What a privilege it must be to attend a performance.

We spent time enjoying busts of composers and performers, musical instruments of the 1800's and miniature porcelain figurines of musical significance. I especially was interested in the paintings of La Scala - "In the rays of the sun" - "In the mist of New Year's Eve" and the rendering of the original La Scala Theatre - you can feel the elegance and the "party atmosphere" of the time.

But....best of all....was the 2nd floor - Probably four rooms of manequins in costume!!! Such magnificent costumes, masks and headdresses - beads and sequins....So elegant and must be so heavy!!! These are not even protected behind glass walls - you could possibly touch them, but there were guards around to discourage this.

Unfortunately, we had only 45 minutes to enjoy the museum because of the midday break at 12:30PM - Plan accordingly if you like more time in a museum....We could have used our ticket all day but were on to other activities in the afternoon.

From journal Skiing in Italy and a Visit to Milan

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