La Scala

La Scala, opera house in Milan, Italy. Officially called Teatro alla Scala, it was built by command of Maria Theresa, archduchess of Austria, after a fire destroyed the old Ducal Theatre in 1776. The site had been occupied by a church, Santa Maria della Scala, built by a member of the della Scala family, former rulers of Verona. The new opera house was opened on August 3, 1778, with a performance of L'Europa Riconosciuta by Antonio Salieri. The building was remodelled in 1867 and thoroughly modernized in 1921. Severely damaged in World War II, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1946. The theatre has a seating capacity of 3,600. The building also contains a small, secondary theatre known as Piccola Scala, for the performance of chamber operas, and an opera museum. Many notable world premieres have been given at La Scala, including The Thieving Magpie (1817) by Rossini, Norma (1831) by Bellini, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893) by Verdi, and Madam Butterfly (1904) and Turandot (1926) by Puccini.

In January 2002, with La Scala temporarily closed for a US$49 million (54.8 million Euros) refurbishment, the opera company moved to the new 2,400-seat Arcimboldi Theatre, in Milan, which was constructed at a cost of US$38.9 million (43.5 million Euros). La Scala reopened in December 2004 with a performance of Salieri’s L’Europa Riconosciuta, which had not been performed since 1778.