My Visit to La Scala

The auditorium of La Scala, setting the stage for Swan Lake 28 June 2016

(c) 2016 Gita Mistry: all rights reserved

La Scala Theatre is one of the great opera houses of the world and its ballet company one of the world's finest (see Marinella Guatterini Ballet History). Carlotta Grisi trained at its ballet school as stars of our own times such as Carla Fracci, Alessandra Ferri and Roberto Bolle. I was very impressed by the young dancers in the Dutch National Ballet who had trained there such as Cristiano Principato and Emilie Tassinari. On Tuesday at the Gala for Alessia I saw for the first time, and made the acquaintance of, other young dancers who had trained at La Scala Ballet School who were dancing in Milan and Vienna and they impressed me too (see From Italy with Love 1 July 2016).

My time in Italy was very short so I did not have time to see any performances but I did manage to visit the Theatre Museum at La Scala. I had been there once before in 1974 before the theatre had been renovated. I was impressed then and was even more so now. Before my visit I had planned to explore the cathedral, Brera and the Theatre Museum but there was so much to see that there was barely time for anything else. All we could manage after our tour was the briefest of visits to the magnificent Duomo. Most of the exhibits in the Museum relate to the opera, the composers of the scores for the great operas and the singers who performed at La Scala but there are some real ballet treasures such as a fine portrait of Rudolf Nureyev.

However, the greatest treat was to enter the auditorium and watch the preparation of the stage for Thursday's performance of Swan Lake. This is Ratmansky's staging and is a co-production with Zurich Opera House. The stage is massive and so is the orchestra pit which must make it very difficult for the audience to see the dancers' faces even from the front row of the stalls. A box on the second and third levels might be better but one would be no closer than the front row of the amphitheatre in Covent Garden. For the folk in the gods the stage must seem as remote as the sea off St Anns at low tide.

The Author 29 June 2016

(c) 2015 Gita Mistry:
all rights reserved

That is of course beside the point. One comes to La Scala for history, tradition, excellence and the sense of occasion where all those things are to be found in abundance. You can see my sense of elation from my arabesque in the photo.

Milan is the second city of Italy as Manchester is the second city of the United Kingdom but the contrast between the two was palpable. The Victor Emanuel arcade with its Prada, Gucci and other premium retailers knocked Sr Ann's Square and Police Street into a cocked hat. Instead of a clanking tram there is a fast and frequent underground to most parts of the city. Fast, clean electric trains sped us from and to Trecate some 26 miles away in contrast to the noisy diesel that laboured back to Huddersfield from Manchester airport. Italy has had a glorious history ever since classical times, its art and architecture are everywhere and it is the first port of call for refugees and migrants from Africa yet I saw and heard none of the ugly calls "To Take Control" or "Get our Country Back" which erupted during and continue to fester as a result of out mean spirited and inglorious referendum campaign. In short, the journey back from Italy to post Brexit Britain was not just an 800 mile flight but a lurch back 50 years in time.

How to get to the Gala for Alessia

The Gala for Alessia which I have mentioned in Principato's Project 7 April 2016, Update on the Trecate Gala 28 April 2016 and Some More Information on Alessia 30 April 2016 as well as on BalletCo Forum and in the London Ballet Circle newsletter takes place at the Silvio Pellico Theatre at 24 Piazza Cattaneo, Trecate, 28069. Trecate is about 5 miles east of Novara, 28 miles West of Milan and 15 miles due South of Milan's Malpensa Airport.

It is a very, very, very long time since I studied Italian and like all Brits I am rubbish at modern languages so please don't quote me but I seem to remember that "mal" meant "evil" and "pensa" meant "thoughts". When I tell you that Holiday Taxis, easyJet's transfer company, quoted me £120 to drive the 15 miles from Malpensa to Trecate which is far more than easyJet charged for the flight from Manchester to Milan you can imagine all the unladylike expressions that passed through my mind. Clearly, Trecate is the Lombard cabbies' equivalent of "saarf ovva rivva darlin'" ("South of the River Madam"). I would much rather spend that kind of moulah on the folks in Burundi.

Happily there is a bus between Malpensa and Novarra which is operated by the bus company STN. It stops at Novara station as you can see from the timetable and there are plenty of trains between Novara and Trecate. Google maps and most of the guidebooks advise taking a train from Malpensa to the centre of Milan and then another out to Trecate but that would be like going from Loughton to Dartford by way of Ealing.

There do not appear to be many hotels in Trecate. Booking.com had only one property on its books yesterday and I nabbed it. But there are quite a few decent looking establishments in Novara and loads in Milan.  There is however an eatery called the Macri almost next door to the theatre and I will be there from 7 pm if anyone wants to meet me.

Milan is the same size as Manchester and reminds me very much of my city. There is the same kind of buzz about the place. However, although we have lots to offer tourists with the Bridgewater Hall, The Hallé and our unique collection of the Manchester Impressionists in the City Gallery they have La Scala with its magnificent museum, the Brera, The Last Supper and a magnificent Gothic cathedral on a classical base.  Also, and, I am sorry to have to admit this, but the Victor Emanuel Galleries beat the Arndale Centre into a cocked hat.

There are cheap flights to Malpensa from London and Manchester with and even cheaper ones with Ryanair to Bergamo.  There are also some good deals from Budapest with Wizzair if Ryosuke and Mel want to see a really good show with a really good crowd for a really good cause.

Update on the Trecate Gala

Earlier this month I wrote about a gala that Cristiano Primcipato is organizing in Trecate near Novara at 9 pm on 28 June 2016 to raise funds for Casa Alessia to carry out relief work in Burundi (see Principato's Project 7 April 2016).

I have now spotted this splendid poster for the Gala for Alessia which states that Cristiano will be the Artistic Director and that his dancers come not only from the Dutch National Ballet but also La Scala Theatre of Milan, the Jas Art Ballet and the Vienna State Ballet.

I would very much like to see the show and I had sent several emails to the box office to try to get a ticket but I have not yet received an answer.  Now I know why.  Admission is free (Ingresso libero) but you have to call the number at the base of the poster before 24 June to let them know you are coming.  As the object f the exercise is to raise funds for the relief work I am sure that someone will be passing a hat round.

The address of the theatre appears to be 24 Piazza Riccardo Cattaneo which is not far from the railway station. Milan seems to be the nearest airport but it does not seem to be easy to get a train to Trecate.  If I can get some folks from England to join me we could hire a car.