Masked Milanese fill La Scala for gala premiere of ‘Macbeth’
By COLLEEN BARRY
Associated Press
MILAN (AP) — Masked Milanese turned out in all their finery for La Scala’s gala season opener of Verdi’s “Macbeth” in a fully seated theater. The performance on Tuesday night was a welcome return to the famed opera house after after the pandemic made last year’s premiere a televised-only affair and as many European theaters remain closed. Guests packed the opera house to capacity, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella and fashion designer Giorgio Armani. The appreciative crowd showered flowers from the La Scala’s tiered balconies on the opera’s stars. But La Scala’s strictly traditionalist upper tiers gave mixed reviews of the modern staging by director Davide Livermore, who received a smattering of boos.