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A New and Better World?
GIUSEPPE PENNISI was at
La Scala Milan for
Wagner's 'Die Walküre'
On 7 December, St Ambrose Day, patron saint of Milan and traditional date to inaugurate the 'season' of the Teatro alla Scala, if you happened to be in Milan city center you would not have sensed the economic crisis. An oversized temporary Tiffany shop under the Christmas tree in the main square, expensive gifts in the windows of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, elegant customers going from department store to department store, and pretty Christmas markets in the medieval Piazza della Mercanzia. Inside the theatre, where orchestra and central row boxes seats had been sold for 2,400 euros a piece, gentlemen in dinner jackets and dames adorned with jewels were walking in the foyers. In Milan, el diné ('money' in local slang) does matter; if you have it, you show it off. In each level of the foyer (there are four) a buffet was ready for those who needed a snack during the long performance (Richard Wagner's Die Walküre) -- from 6pm until 11.30pm; prices of the snack were commensurate with those of the tickets...
Copyright © 9 December 2010
Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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