Attending La Scala... Twice!

While I've been here I have had the amazing opportunity to go to La Scala twice! The first time was for an opera performance but it wasn't really a typical opera. This was a special performance by one man (a tenor, I believe?) who was invited to give this performance by the really important opera-world people, as I understand it. Kasia, my roommate who studies music/opera performance, said that to perform there is the ultimate recognition you can receive as a opera singer. Also, fun fact, this guy is AMERICAN! So it was just him and the pianist, which I was a little skeptical about at the beginning. I was afraid I would not be able to stay focused for however many hours this performance was about to be with only a piano, pianist and the singer. This fear was completely unwarranted, though, because the concert was absolutely amazing! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time!

We also had really good seats on the floor that were not that expensive (in my opinion) considering the international clout of La Scala. This opera house started operation in 1778… it’s basically as old as America. A lot of Verdi’s operas were premiered here as well as some of Puccini’s operas, like Madame Butterfly! It’s just amazing to think of the amazing musical minds that have sat in the seats of this theatre!

After the show (seemingly) was over everyone started clapping enthusiastically as I expected they would because this guy was amazing and after awhile he came out to do an encore. I didn’t find this too odd because I’ve done shows where we already have another piece prepared in the event that the audience wants us to do and encore. So we all settled back into our seats and enjoyed a shorter, more light-hearted piece that was wonderful. This is where the Italian audience started to seem a bit different than the American audiences I’ve been in… they were still clapping. And clapping. And clapping. Clapping to the tune of SIX ENCORES IN TOTAL. Yes, that is six encores!!! SIX! I couldn’t believe it… my hands were exhausted so how was this guy not falling off the stage at this point?!??! Overall, one hell of a night!

View from our seats for the opera. When the original La Scala house burned down the wealthy families that owned boxes were the ones that paid for and secured the funding to rebuild... or so I was told by the older woman that sat beside me at the ballet!

Outside after the opera!

Round two of La Scala consisted of attending a ballet performance with tickets provided to the students in my program. Unfortunately these were not floor seats but rather alllllllll the way up in the very top section, in the second row. This is where all the really poor people watched La Scala shows from back in the day; back then they didn’t even have chairs up there, it was a just a fight to the front. Still, what a night!!! Instead of a traditional ballet it was a compilation of 11 different pieces, many with more than one movement. I loved the range of dance styles that were shown… some were a bit modern but you could see the classical roots in them all. I made friends with the older woman that was sitting to my left and she told me about one of the male dancers, who is apparently a pretty famous ballet dancer in Europe. I don’t know if my fellow students enjoyed it as much as I did… actually I’m pretty sure they didn’t seeing as I was the only one going on and on about the show afterwards. Nonetheless, it was phenomenal.

So there you have it… my two La Scala experiences whilst in Italia. Glad I’ve checked ballet and opera off the list!