Teatro alla Scala

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

The Teatro alla Scala, La Scala for short, is a historic opera house in Milan. It opened on 3 August 1778, with Europa riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri. The theatre came about after the previous building, the Teatro Regio Ducale, burned down in 1776 following a carnival gala. The architect Giuseppe Piermarini designed the new house on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, from which it takes its name. It had about three thousand seats, divided between a stalls area and six tiers of boxes with the loggione above them.

Music and breakthrough

Many of the greatest opera singers from Italy and the rest of the world performed here. The house has its own chorus, ballet and orchestra, and the Filarmonica della Scala. The season opens every year on 7 December, the feast day of Saint Ambrose, patron saint of Milan. There is also a museum and an academy for music, dance and stagecraft. In the loggione sits the most critical audience, the loggionisti, who can applaud singers exuberantly or boo them mercilessly. In 2006 the tenor Roberto Alagna left the stage after being booed during Aida.

Influence

La Scala is regarded as one of the most important opera and ballet stages in the world. For pop history it matters as a symbol of the classical theatre sound: the place where the great Italian opera tradition of Verdi and Puccini was performed and where vocal technique, orchestra and sets together form a single sonic picture.

Listening