La Scala’s wonderful sounds

Press, 26 April 1988, Page 25

La Scala’s wonderful sounds

Bt

Nino Lo Bello

in Milan j

By general agreement among the cognoscenti. La Scala in Milan is the greatest opera house ir. the world.' the target of every sinser ’c notTsi: -JL VS when m Milan, then lhe cannot sav he his visited Milan. The interior of La Scaia is magnificent. wlith mirrors ar.d chandeliers. Carrara marble, deep rugs, silk tapestres. statues anc other artwork But it' is what you hear that is remarkable. In addition to haM.ng the most perfect acoustics anywhere or. Earth. I La Scaia provides opera Ithe way it should be done. 1999 times out :f a thousand If you ever see a sr.pky performance, then that precise/, the same in (the it is ail the way the back rows cf the gallery as it is or. cctn sices :f the classic tricks of voice The acoustics are; s-c goc-d that if the prompter in the humped box or. 7.1 S CJ6 2 bii’:cc- rr.’-<7. of i stage whisper. 027. be r.esrd ail c-ve7 *7*2 '.r.eaire i He* this aco-sjicai triumph came about is! no:_ Known tor sure. sca.a s <Arthi-.be. Giuseppe Piermarmi. wn-c drew the plans in l)"t must either have peen history's greatest master of acoustical science) or the luckiest architect o' all time Sc perfect is the s/ur.d that w-her. La Scale had to be rebuilt m 1946 ' it) had been bombed diinng world war IT. the new builders did not change ’La Scaia is still haJr.ted

by the spirit of (A.iruro Toscanini, who considered La Scaia his" |Tcday. more than 25 yearf. after his death. Toscanini ar.d his "atmosphere j still dominate the Milan .house where he began his association in IS9S| Toscanini's presence is felt (like fresh air I during rehearsals, with | -‘strict artistic discipline and -devotion tc tne inner spirit of the muisic. and (during performances with) everybody on the team seeking to give his verj best It works. This /s the mysterious difference for an operagoer that turns a good evening into a great one. Since intermissions at La Scaia often■ run -Close to 30 minutes, one good wny to pass y.y.h e berween the acts tsito v;s:i the ’ theatre's ! .Opera Museum, the only lone of its kind anywhere B-!g> the past, the muse.m requires much more time than one intermussic-r. ■cover all the exr.).b;ts -if One of the mist enchanting of La | Scala's Scala ■the Little Simla-, a small auditorium! behind "Big Papa" seating about s<") pec-c-le Based ■on ar. idea bv Tcscamm.) Piccola Scala puts '-on chamber opera from the I seventeenth and eighteenth centur.es pius juknown and neglected L operas from famous composers From the outside, as seen' from Via Manzom. La Scala does nti: -.compare with manyiinf : - e major opera houses of the world. -Standing iUs than iOO yards away frbm Milan's famed Gall-era. the world's most respected opera house looks; like a large brown box of stone, badiv m need pf sandblasting. ' Don't let outer appearances deter you; however, because being liistde La Scala is a remarkable experience