From the recent skyline redefined by City Life and Porta Nuova to the regeneration of working-class neighbourhoods where peeling walls have become canvases for renowned street artists, and where niche bars and restaurants, community hubs, idea incubators, museums, and foundations have taken root – Milan, today, is drawn to the new. Once-desolate areas have now been transformed into green and pedestrian zones. From the city centre to the outskirts, there is a constant proliferation of new buildings, both residential and commercial that sprout up like mushrooms with construction sites perpetually active and a cohort of umarèlls (retirees) commenting on the work.
Yet this evolution was preceded by the long history of a city that has experienced more than one Renaissance. This is a city whose creativity has likely been one of the levers that allowed it to rise from the ashes.
A stone’s throw from Milan’s most iconic monument, the Duomo, from the elegant Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, and the luxury of Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga, stands one of the landmarks of Milanese art, which is proof of how the city has managed to rise after every fall: the Teatro alla Scala. The most prestigious opera house in Italy and perhaps in Europe. Verdi made his debut there in 1839, and today the most famous international artists tread its boards.
After the fire that destroyed the Teatro Regio Ducale in February 1776, Milan was left without an opera house. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria commissioned the architect, Giuseppe Piermarini, to design a new one on the site of the dilapidated church of S. Maria della Scala. Just two years later, the Teatro Grande alla Scala was born. Technically advanced for its time, the new theatre immediately placed the city at the forefront of European culture. The premieres of operas, such as La Gazza Ladra by Rossini, Norma by Bellini, Otello by Verdi, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot by Puccini, were all held there.
Heavily damaged by the Allied bombings of the Royal Air Force in August 1943, the theatre was meticulously rebuilt and reopened on 11th May 1946, in all its splendour, with a memorable concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The current appearance is the result of a restoration and modernisation intervention by Mario Botta, which took place between 2002 and 2004.
The grandeur of La Scala lies concealed behind its understated facade, as if to embody a certain predilection of the Milanese for understatement. Its magnificence unfolds within: a wooden auditorium with four tiers of boxes and two galleries, leading to one of the largest stages in Italy, renowned for its exceptional acoustics.
Here, batons are waved in mid-air, strings plucked by the agile movements of harpists’ fingers, or caressed by the bows of violinists, and powerful and resilient wind instruments are played. Sopranos and tenors sing, faces crumpled in a grimace of pain or relaxed in relief. Muscles are stretched in an arabesque, the grace of a grand jeté and a plié. Watching a show at La Scala, the Milanese temple of opera and ballet, enveloped in timeless elegance, is an experience that is hard to forget.
Just as one cannot forget its grandiose past, preserved in the Teatro alla Scala Museum.
Teatro alla Scala Museum
Teatro alla Scala Museum: a tribute to the Milanese Opera House and a testament to the city’s strong bond with the Performing Arts
450,000 lire was the amount requested by the antiquarian, Jules Sambon, for the purchase at auction of his prestigious collection of objects related to the world of theatre. This collection was tempting to a small group of enthusiasts, including the librettist and composer, Arrigo Boito, the artist, Lodovico Pogliaghi, and director of the Pinacoteca di Brera, Ettore Modigliani, who were intent on opening a museum at La Scala. To raise the required sum, bolstered by the theatre’s reputation, they secured aid from the State and from fifty private, wealthy citizens. Just under two years later, the Teatro alla Scala Museum opened in the headquarters of the former Casino Ricordi.
Here, paintings and period instruments from the Sambon collection can be admired, including a 17th-century spinet made in Naples by Honofrio Guaracino and Musical Instruments, an elegant still life painting with a musical theme by Evaristo Baschenis. The museum also hosts the Steinway grand piano that once belonged to Franz Liszt. The grotesque and irreverent atmospheres of the ‘commedia dell’arte’ are kept alive by the works of the engraver, Jacques Callot, including ceramics and porcelain depicting Harlequin and other famous Carnival characters. There are also paintings of the first women of nineteenth-century La Scala: Giuditta Pasta, Isabella Colbran, Maria Malibran, as well as those of Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti. The close relationship between Giuseppe Verdi and La Scala is highlighted by the many portraits of the composer. The museum also showcases the protagonists of theatre between the 19th and 20th centuries: from Arturo Toscanini, Eleonora Duse, and Giacomo Puccini to Maria Callas.
The museum also houses a library with over 150,000 volumes and thirty manuscripts of complete works (including Verdi’s Requiem Mass and Rossini’s Tancredi), as well as loose sheets by artists such as Beethoven and Mozart.
In collaboration with 
