By pure luck and circumstance, I recently had the privilege of experiencing my very first opera (on my birthday!), and at the most incredible place ever – Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala.
As the world’s most famous opera house, La Scala (for short) is a mecca for theatre goers around the world. And while I’ve never considered myself an opera or theatre buff, the opportunity to go to an opera in ITALY at THE opera house, was just too amazing to pass up!
I had visions of dressin’ up all fancy and sitting in a velvet lined opera box, being moved to tears like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. And truth be told, the reality of it wasn’t that far off!
When you Google famous opera houses, La Scala immediately comes up. The theatre is everything you’d imagine a sumptuous opera house to look like: a curved theatre with tiers of opera boxes, adorned in red velvet and dripping in gold accents. It’s picture-perfect, and an opulent place to feel cultured as hell.
A brief history…
La Scala was built it 1778 to replace the destroyed Royal Ducal Theatre. Apparently, things got a little crazy at a carnival gala in 1776 and the theatre burned down, leaving the Milanese genteel folks without a fancy performance hall. Must have been one hell of a party!
With the blessing of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (who ruled Milan at the time) the new theatre was built on the desecrated grounds of a church, Santa Maria alla Scala – which is where the theatre gets its name.
Originally designed in the neoclassical style by architect Giuseppe Piermarini, the theatre has gone through many changes over the years. It was first remodeled in 1867, then updated in 1921. Bombed during World War II, then restored in 1946. It then underwent an expensive restoration between 2002 and 2004 into the gorgeous theatre we see today.
As an architecture buff, I was probably WAY more interested in the design and opulence of the theatre, but La Scala is actually quite famous for its association with some pretty well-known opera geniuses.
Even if you don’t know crap about opera (like me) you’ll likely recognize some famous names of composers and operas who have premiered at La Scala. Like Verdi’s Otello, Bellini’s Norma and Puccini’s Madame Butterfly….among many others.
Today they obviously still perform operas here (many obscure ones as well as the famous classics) along with ballet and classical music concerts in this opulent performance palace.
Our opera experience at La Scala…
Fate would have it that there was a performance of Mozart’s opera, “La Finta Giardiniera” playing at 8pm on my actual birthday, a Monday night. We HAD to go.
Neither my husband nor I had ever seen an opera before, so we had no idea what to expect. Honestly, I kind of get bored during classical concerts, so I had expected to get sleepy at some point. Especially since this was going to be a 3 hour and 15-minute performance – with only one intermission.
But boy, was I wrong. We absolutely loved it.
We laughed, we swooned, I cried. The whole spectacle was simply stunning. The sumptuous costumes, the rich and colorful sets, and the sheer talent from these performers. They sang their hearts out on stage as they always did in the past – without the aid of a microphone. The acoustics were near perfect, and the whole experience was a treat for the senses.
And the surprises, we weren’t expecting those. Not one, but two strip scenes!? In an opera from 1775? Who knew they were so racy and funny back then? By the end of Act II, the performers went mad and completely destroyed their beautiful set. After which my husband turned to me and said, “who knew opera was so metal?!”
Oddly, what really made the experience awesome, were the monitors in the seat backs in front of us. They were translating everything that was being said/ sung into English – so we were actually able to understand what was going on! Without that, it may have been a tad confusing, but still very entertaining.
I really kept looking around the room every so often pinching myself, thinking “oh my God, I’m at an opera in Italy right now, this is so freaking amazing!” And it truly was.
I’d love to share some pics of the performance, but they are strictly forbidden….I was given a stern, “signora, niente foto per favore!” when I even attempted it….
How we got tickets…
Let’s be honest, opera was mostly (and still somewhat is) an event for the elite. So how did we get tickets to such a prestigious place? Well, that’s easy…we scored the cheap seats.
La Scala has several seating options:
- floor seats (expensive)
- tiered opera box seats (also very expensive)
- aaaaaaand seats in the upper two galleries called the loggione – where the less wealthy folks (like us) have been watching opera since the 18th century.
I imagine the box seats to be plush and comfortable, and apparently, they have their own coat closet! If you’re up for splurging, I’m sure it is an amazing view and experience from that level. For this opera, the floor and box seats were selling for over €300 each.
The gallery seats might be small and cramped (people were much smaller in the 1700s) but they were still covered in red velvet. Fancy! The performance was still stunning from that level – and we were able to score seats in the second gallery for just €28.50 each. A huge difference!
Fun fact: Historically, the crowded galleries were where critical opera aficionados, called the “loggionisti” would hang out. If they didn’t like a performance, things could get rowdy and merciless. This happened as recently as 2006 when a French tenor named Roberto Alagna was booed off the stage from the gallery. Tough crowd!
To score cheap seats:
- Scour the theatre’s Official Website here early (like months in advance) the cheap seats sell out first!
- Utilize the seat preview feature on the official site. So, you’ll know if a column will be blocking your view.
- Don’t get suckered into buying tickets from a third-party site. Click here for the La Scala’s Official Box Office Site
- Opt for a later running of an opera, opening nights are more expensive
- Try for a weekday show instead of the weekend if you can help it
Note: If you really don’t care about seeing a performance but would like to catch a glimpse inside the theatre, you can visit the La Scala Museum (at just €9 per person) which includes a peek from the third level boxes. Click here for more info.
What to wear?
Before we went, I scoured the inter-webs for what to wear to La Scala – and came up with SO many different answers. Some said to wear evening/ cocktail attire. Others said it didn’t really matter, especially for the cheap seats “just don’t wear a ripped t-shirt”. What the hell?! I wanted to dress up and feel special!
Finally, listed among the “house rules” on La Scala’s website I found this: “The public is kindly requested to dress in keeping with the decorum of the Theatre, out of respect for the Theatre and for other viewers. People wearing shorts or sleeveless T-shirts will not be allowed inside the auditorium; in this case, tickets will not be reimbursed.”
I would respect the hell outta the theatre and dress as classy as I could manage while on vacation. In the end, I opted for a classic black dress, and my husband wore some dress pants, shirt and a tie. We fit in perfectly. Not overdressed, but not sloppy either.
What about dinner?
So, our biggest dilemma with going to the opera in Milan was when to eat dinner. Italians eat dinner very late, so most restaurants will not even be open to serve dinner until 7:30 pm. With the opera starting at 8 pm, we were kinda screwed.
This is where the aperitivo comes in. Many bars will open for aperitivo from 6-9pm (basically happy hour), in which you pay rather steep prices for drinks, but they come with access to an appetizer spread. These “complimentary” pre-dinner finger foods called stuzzichini can vary from olives, meats and cheese, to pasta dishes and bruschetta. It’s definitely worth seeking out, just to eat enough to get through a 3-hour opera!
This was our plan….but sadly, we did not arrive in Milan in time to partake in aperitivo before the opera. Instead, during intermission we had to down some small sandwiches and champagne on offer at La Scala to fortify us for the rest of the performance!
If you ever dreamed of seeing an opera in Italy, do not hesitate to go to La Scala. It was worth every cent, and was a birthday to remember! Seriously, I might not ever be able to top that! I might as well just stop having birthdays…
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