La Scala

Italian melodrama's official recognition as a global cultural treasure was celebrated on Dec. 7 with La Scala's season premiere of Verdi's "Don Carlo," an opera that hits hot-button topics of power and oppression.

Milan's legendary La Scala opera house erupted into huge applause on May 10 to hail a stirring performance at its triumphant reopening after six months of silence imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Christmas Theater cultural program will be streaming a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida" from the historic La Scala theater in Milan on its website from January 8-10, with Greek subtitles. The four-act tale of love, rivalry, betrayal and, most importantly, rebellion, was first performed in December 1871 in Cairo and then made its European premiere at La Scala in February 1872.

Soprano Lisette Oropesa was to be the first American to sing a title role in the gala season opener at La Scala since Maria Callas in the 1950s. Then Italy's virus cases surged.

An outbreak in both La Scala's chorus and its orchestra forced the country's premier opera house to cancel for the first time one of the top events on Europe's cultural calendar.

Milan's prestigious La Scala is planning to open a conservatory for 600 children in the Saudi capital, media reported Thursday after the opera house agreed to refund 3 million euros to the kingdom.

Famous chamber orchestra Cameristi Della Scala, which was founded in 1982 by musicians from the orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, will take the stage at Istanbul's Cemal Reşit Rey (CRR) Concert Hall on April 24. The orchestra will perform for the first time with a Turkish conductor, Hakan Şensoy in the concert. 

 Larissa-born Ilias Tzempetonidis, first non-Italian casting director to date at La Scala, now heads same department at the Paris Opera

By Yiouli Eptakili

The famous watchmakers, Rolex, demanded that Italian PM Renzi and his Interior Minister apologize on the comments they made concerning the Milan riots, when they stated that the perpetrators were spoiled rich kids wearing Rolex watches.