sinfonia

I will be in Milan Sept. 19-22-ish. I see no operas available at La Scala during that time. Am I missing something or is there really nothing available? If not, any other suggestions for seeing Italian opera? I will be in Italy Sep. 14- Oct. 4 and will be visiting Venice, Verona, Milan, and Florence. Thanks!

Non-NonRev

The opera season in Milan has somewhat unusual dates: the season always opens on December 7th (feast day of Saint Ambrose) with a gala performance in the presence of the President of the Republic.

It generally runs until mid-July, then pick up in November for final performances before the new season. August is vacation time, while September is often devoted to touring (performances in Japan in September 2013, for example).

As you saw on the calendar, the ballet gives many performances in September and October; there are also recitals and instrumental concerts.

Florence doesn't start until September 25th, while Verona (at the indoor theater) performs in November The Fenice does have opera performances in mid-September; the Traviata in the (modern) Robert Carsen production looks interesting (Ciofi is a very good Violetta).

sinfonia

All of this is such an extremely helpful explanation of how the opera seasons work there. Thank you for taking the time to write it out and share it. While it is disappointing to not be able to watch an opera at La Scala, I am thankful for the Fenice suggestion. I have just looked it up and we will be booking tickets to see La Traviata there during the Venice portion of our trip. Thank you so much! We are looking forward to it!

ksu

What was the performance like on the streaming? We were actually there in Salzburg. In the theatre, it was a nice performance, but perhaps not really Festival standard.

Non-NonRev

The Medici streams are always crystal-clear in both picture and sound, although there was a transmission breakup right at the beginning of 'Mi Tradi'. The production, which looked very goon on the screen, was clear in telling the story without offering any real new insights (the same production team did a much better 'Giovanni' in Zurich in 2005, available on DVD and YouTube).

The casting was, as you say, not bad but not up to past Festspeile standards, d'Archangelo and Pisaroni maybe know theur roles too well (d'Archangelo strikes me as a better Leperello), while of the women, I did like the Donna Elvira (who was Fiordiligi in the Michael Haneke 'Cosi; in Madrid last year). The Anna and the Zerlina (the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World winner) were a bit underwhelming.

The Trovatore will be streamed on Medici and Arte this Friday - I listen to the audio stream of the premier yesterday - Netrebko was great, the mezzo miscast, the tenor was clearly ill and the pseudo-baritone Placido had a rough night

ksu

We have clearly heard the same performance! In the theatre, I found Pisaroni vocally underwhelming, d'Archangelo was good (but perhaps too much of a routinier). Elvira was the one memorable of the ladies. Very good tenorino as Ottavio!

Reindeerflame

I was very pleased with my attendance at La Scala in March of 2008.

I ordered a ticket on line and paid approximately $30 for a seat in the last row in the balcony.

The ticket arrived by ordinary mail in a plain envelope.

The opera was a bit obscure but that was unimportant compared with the overall experience.

KLouis

I love "obscure" operas. You can find some real gems among them. Was it "Il Trittico" you saw? Perhaps Puccini's best. Or was it Wozzek? Not my kind of music...