La Scala announces its 2021-22 season

With its first live press conference in years La Scala announced the new 2021-22 season, based on the assumption that life will be back to normal by the fall thus allowing the company to celebrate its traditional opening on December 7th.

The Mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala, who, by Italian regulation is also the president of the company, gave a short speech praising the city’s famous resilience, of which La Scala has always been a symbol. He then mentioned Carla Fracci’s funeral, which took place just days ago, as an occasion for all citizens of Milan to show their affection for this great artist whose life and career are so tightly linked to the company.

Then it was the turn of artistic director Dominic Meyer to illustrate the upcoming season with interventions by the company’s music director Riccardo Chailly. It will be Chailly who will conduct the opening production, Verdi’s Macbeth, directed by Davide Livermore with a stellar cast featuring Anna Netrebko, Luca Salsi, Francesco Meli and Ildar Abdrazakov, all veterans of La Scala’s opening nights. More Verdi will follow in May and June: Un ballo in maschera in a new production directed by Marco Arturo Marelli again with Riccardo Chailly in the pit and Francesco Meli in the cast, and Rigoletto, conducted by Michele Gamba and directed by Mario Martone, with Mongolian baritone Enkhbat Amartüvshin in the tile role.

Other Italian composers also feature next season - firstly Bellini with I Capuleti e i Montecchi. The conductor will be Evelino Pidò while the production will be directed by Adrian Noble who has been Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company for 13 years. Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur will again feature Anna Netrebko in the title role, this time accompanied by husband Yusif Eyvazov and by an audience favorite, Anita Rachvelishvili. The production from the Royal Opera House is directed by David McVicar with conductor Giampaolo Bisanti making his debut with the company.

In June the company will perform Ponchielli’s La Gioconda which will be conducted by Frédéric Chaslin with Sonya Yoncheva in the title role and directed by Davide Livermore.

Later in the summer, the company is planning a tour and during the absence of the orchestra, it will be the turn of the young artists of the Academy to take the stage with a new production by Irina Brook of Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto with Ottavio Dantone in the pit.

The fall will see Giordano’s Fedora marking the return of Roberto Alagna to La Scala after several years of absence in a new production directed by Mario Martone with Marco Armiliato as conductor and Sonya Yoncheva in the title role.

Italian operas thus accounts for more than half of the 13 title season. The remaining five titles include another company premiere, Massenet’s Thaïs in a new production by Olivier Py with conductor Lorenzo Viotti and soprano Marina Rebeka in the title role; Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades conducted by Valery Gergiev with a Russian cast featuring superstar mezzo Olga Borodina as the Countess. For Mozart’s Don Giovanni the company will revive the Robert Carsen production that opened the 2011-2012 season conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado making his debut in Milan with Christopher Maltman in the title role.

Another conductor making his Milanese debut is Michael Boder who will conduct Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos in a production from the Wiener Staatsoper. The season will close with the third company premiere: Adès' The Tempest in the Robert Lepage production from the Met, conducted by the composer.

As usual, the season will also feature rich offerings of ballet, symphony concerts, and recitals, as well as a special program for children. After presenting the season, Meyer and Chailly took the opportunity to thank Bruno Casoni, who has led the company’s chorus for fifteen years and is now retiring. In fact, the Maestro, who received a warm applause by the attendees, will remain with the company to lead the children chorus. His place with the main chorus will be taken by Alberto Malazzi.