After six months of silence due to the coronavirus, opera arias will resonate again at La Scala in Milan, a legendary Italian stage, which reopens its doors to the public on Monday evening, for a concert conducted by its musical director Riccardo Chailly.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Riccardo Muti, is expected on Tuesday, 75 years to the day after the historic concert by Arturo Toscanini celebrating the reopening of La Scala in 1946, rebuilt after the bombings during the war in 1943 .
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"It's a double rebirth: Toscanini opened La Scala after the war and we are trying to revive it after the pandemic, there is the same desire to survive"
, enthuses Stefano Cardo, bass clarinetist of the La Scala orchestra since 2007, before going to its rehearsal.
Italy, which has paid a heavy price for the pandemic with more than 122,000 dead, has reopened its cinemas and theaters since April 26.
La Scala was not spared by the virus, with a total of 144 cases of Covid identified, including 64 in the choir.
"Intense emotion"
Technicians are busy under the gilding of the prestigious room dominated by boxes draped in red velvet and known for its exceptional acoustics, in order to lay the last cables. Stefano Cardo says he is
"a little nervous"
before the symphonic concert which will begin with the majestic
Patria oppressa
(
"Oppressed homeland"
) from
Macbeth
by Giuseppe Verdi performed by the choir of La Scala.
"We recorded a lot of concerts in streaming, but it was virtual, there it is different, with the public it is an intense moment of emotion that we share, like the final applause which we missed"
.
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In order to respect the distance between the musicians, the parterre was released from its chairs and the orchestra took place there;
the public is confined to the balconies, the intermission canceled and the bars closed.
No more tinkling of champagne flutes and petits fours.
On the program of the festivities: hydroalcoholic gel, temperature measurement, protective masks, with a gauge limited to 500 spectators per performance for a capacity of 2000 seats.
Despite these restrictions, the sensations will be strong.
"
We have all listened to recorded concerts from our armchairs, but it has nothing to do with the emotion of the live music, the quality and the beauty of the natural sound"
, underlines Dominique Meyer, director of La Scala since the mid-2020.
"I am sure that with the return of the spectators to La Scala, there will be tears of happiness"
, estimates this Frenchman with the affable smile who had previously directed the Vienna Opera for ten years.
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The concert by Italian maestro Riccardo Chailly, loaded with symbols, will end with the slave choir of
Nabucco
by Verdi with his
Va'pensiero
, an ode to freedom mixing beauty and sadness already sung during Toscanini's concert in 1946. Highly anticipated, the young Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made her debut at La Scala, performing arias from
Tannhäuser
by Wagner,
Ariadne à Naxos
by Richard Strauss and
La Dame de Spades
by Tchaikovsky.
Symbol of recovery
“La Scala has always been a symbol for the Milanese and for Italy, it is the second Italian brand in terms of notoriety, behind Ferrari
, considers Dominique Meyer.
Paradoxically, it is La Scala that gives the signal to restart an entire country, while at the start of the health crisis we heard that culture was not an essential activity. "
After having chained virtual performances away from their audience, the musicians and choristers of La Scala are impatient to return to the stage.
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“It was sad to stay closed for so long. Passion was lacking, preparing a concert is part of a musician's life, of his identity
, testifies Damiano Cottalasso, a 54-year-old violinist, taking his place on the floor.
We are at the center of the room, protagonists of a renaissance in theater and music in general ... When you play for yourself, you are like plants that wither. ”