Italy Guide
Lombardy and the lakes
Teatro alla Scala
Price: opera tickets €60
Address: Via dei Filodrammatici 2
Telephone: 02.860.775
Website: www.teatroallascala.org
Milan's world-famous opera house, popularly known as La Scala was commissioned by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and opened in 1778. Many of the leading names in Italian opera had their major works premiered here, including Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, but it is Giuseppe Verdi who is most closely associated with the opera house a. The post-World War II period saw another breathtaking roll call of top composers and musical performers – among them Schoenberg, Lucio Berio, Rudolf Nureyev and Maria Callas – while Toscanini, perhaps the most influential conductor of all time, devoted more than fifty years to the theatre.
Opera tickets cost about €60 on average – and sell out months in advance. Buy by phone or online or in person at the Central Box Office, Galleria del Sagrato, underground in the corridors of Duomo metro station (Sept– July daily noon–6pm). Some tickets for each performance are set aside for sale on the day.