December 7th is the best-known date for music lovers all over the world because they know that this is the opening date of the famous Teatro alla Scala in Milan. This does not mean that the hall is out of order from September to November. There are even very beautiful shows on the bill. Strauss’ sensational Elektra in Patrice Chéreau’s staging is an opera to be booked urgently.
Two other productions are noteworthy because we do not often have the opportunity to applaud Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera (beautifully distributed in Milan) or Verdi’s Ernani, a masterpiece that has been under-estimated. Two great recitals by Sonya Yoncheva and Jonas Kaufmann will soon be sold out. The famous Teatro alla Scala in Milan is a must for great singers. It is not surprising to meet Jonas Kaufmann as Krasimira Stoyanova, Jessica Pratt, Marianne Crebassa, Christian Gerhaher or Günther Groissböck in recital.
On June 23, 2019, those who will have the chance to book a show ticket for La Scala in Milan, will attend the event of the season: a Gala Concert with Sonya Yoncheva, Jonas Kaufmann, Plácido Domingo, Juan Diego Flórez and the pianist Yuja Wang. As the icing on the cake, the Wiener Philharmoniker is directed by Gustavo Dudamel.
The season of classical concerts and ballet is prestigious with the presence of formations like the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists for a concert version of Haendel’s Semele led by the perfect John Eliot Gardiner. The icon Teodor Currentzis performs in Milan. Other equally lavish concerts of the Filarmonica della Scala are directed by Riccardo Chailly, artistic director of Teatro alla Scala in Milan, of course, but also by Zubin Mehta, Myung-Whun Chung and Christoph von Dohnányi.
On the dance side, the Bolshoi Ballet and Tokyo Ballet are prestigious guest companies. Roberto Bolle and Svetlana Zakharova, superstar stars are regulars in the scala scene. This season 2018-2019, they dance together in The History of Manon and separately. She dances Giselle while he performs Onegin. Other great classic ballets are on the poster like Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker (you have to book your tickets quickly). Note that modernity makes a beautiful appearance with two renowned choreographers, Angelin Preljocaj and Wayne McGregor.
But of course, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan is first and foremost the scene for operas. This 2018-2019 season opens with an event. With Attila, Riccardo Chailly has chosen a rather rare young Verdi (embodied by Ildar Abdrazakov). As always, the season displays an impressive and unbroken succession of big stars. Sonya Yoncheva and Marina Rebeka are two superb Traviata that charm Francesco Meli and Benjamin Bernheim (also Leo Nucci or Plácido Domingo!). An incredible Giulio Cesare from Haendel brings together Cecilia Bartoli, Bejun Mehta and Philippe Jaroussky in a staging of the genial Robert Carsen.
Valery Gergiev directs the performances of Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina and Christoph von Dohnányi, a fascinating Idomeneo by Mozart with a perfect cast (Bernard Richter, Michèle Losier …). Strauss and Korngold have the stage honors with Ariadne auf Naxos and an idyllic women’s duo (Krassimira Stoyanova, Sabine Devieilhe) and Die tote Stadt, tailor-made for Klaus Florian Vogt and Asmik Grigorian. Other shows are equally worthy of interest, such as Rossini’s Cenerentola with Marianne Crebassa, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with the unbeatable Ambrogio Maestri or Leo Nucci immortal Rigoletto.
And since we are in Milan, we have to book opera tickets for the historical repertoire of the famous hall like Manon Lescaut by Puccini (with Maria Jose Siri and Marcelo Álvarez), I Masnadieri by Verdi (with Lisette Oropesa) in the staging of David McVicar or L’Elisir d’Amore by Donizetti, a masterpiece with Vittorio Grigòlo and René Barbera alternately. A beautiful season, in every way …
