MILAN - "The recovery will be very difficult": it is in these few words of the superintendent of La Scala Dominique Meyer, usually very measured in terms, all the drama of the theaters (lyrical and otherwise) forced to close for the coronavirus epidemic without knowing when and in what conditions they can reopen. To get a picture of the situation, Meyer - who officially entered the role on 1 March after the lockdown began - sent a letter to the employees, which ANSA was able to view.
"We will have to take into account - he wrote to them - a decline for various reasons in the number of spectators and especially the international public, with a consequent sharp contraction in revenues. In the immediate future, our common effort will be devoted primarily to maintaining the public Scaliger and to reach new spectators ". And so on to the new site and a digitalization project that will be presented shortly, in addition to the possibility of broadcasting the shows in live streaming, while working on the reprogramming of the current and future seasons, "trying to recover, where possible, the productions for which we had made investments and which we were unable to carry out ".
The thought is also to the reopening that will be "in safety", but also "up to" the history of La Scala, indeed that "must be an important and exemplary sign, visible and noticeable in Milan, in the region, in Italy and throughout the world". Concern for the budget remains undeniable. The board meeting convened by videoconference next Monday will serve to approve the 2019 financial statements but also to assess the situation of this very complicated 2020. The cancellation of the shows in recent months has "led, at the moment, to the loss of ticket revenues for us very important". And therefore "we are in constant contact with the Founders and Partners of the Theater - explained Meyer - to update them on what we are doing to deal with this emergency and to reconfirm today more than ever the importance of their support, despite the awareness that the crisis is also having serious repercussions on their companies ".
Then there is the question of workers' salaries. La Scala has decided to use the FIS (the wage integration fund) for its approximately one thousand workers, but has also started negotiations with the unions to be able to integrate this figure (which is equal to 40% of the salary, therefore for the Scaliger a little over a thousand euros). But he asks the government for clarity, Meyer explained, on how to do it technically, given that the Court of Auditors has rejected solutions found by other theaters. "The period we are going through at the moment is complicated, for many it is dramatic, and other trials and sacrifices await us that will require cohesion and a sense of responsibility" according to the superintendent who ensured the "daily" commitment to find "solutions, possibilities and ways to protect the people who give life and value to our beloved theater: our employees, artists, workers ". "I hope that we will courageously support each other, keeping all our eyes firm on the reopening - he concluded - and on the role that Teatro alla Scala can and must play in the cultural rebirth after this crisis of historical and global dimension".