Description: 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!
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