Teatro alla Scala

On 7 December 2001 a new production of Otello, conducted by Muti, concluded the Verdi Year and, for the time being, performances at Piermarini’s original building in Piazza Scala. Major restoration and modernisation works of the Theatre began in January 2002.Made out of 135 musicians, the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, considered one of the world’s best orchestra for opera productions, has reached a prestigious international position also for its symphony activity.The main characteristic of the Orchestra is its capacity to obtain a uniform and distinguished sound, typical of the Teatro alla Scala style, handed down from generation to generation.The versatile and soft sound and the fast setting up of the opera timbre balancing are characteristic of the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra. Recent years have seen the La Scala Ballet expand its visibility at home and abroad, with debut performances at the Paris Opera, Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre, and in the USA, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Spain, Mexico and China, to name just a few. Thanks to the unfailing expressive, technical and interpretative appeal of La Scala’s étoiles Svetlana Zakharova, Roberto Bolle, Massimo Murru, guest artists, principals, newly appointed soloists, and the many Corps de Ballet members frequently selected for major roles, Makhar Vaziev’s direction (from 2009 since end of 2015) resolutely embraces a set of precise artistic standards. The aim is to reinvigorate the twentieth century’s most refreshing and influential ballet repertoire as a “tradition of the new” in the ballet world, reviving the necessary classics, providing young choreographers with creative opportunities, and drawing celebrated musical directors to the ballet rostrum, both as an element of added appeal and also as an unmistakable sign of the musical excellence that befits La Scala, not only in its operatic performances but also in its dance productions.