Reuters North American News Service, December 6th, 2007
MILAN, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Milan's La Scala opens its new
opera season on Friday with Richard Wagner's five-hour-plus
spectacle "Tristan and Isolde".
The gala event in the historic heart of Italy's fashion and
financial capital is as important for the performance as it is
for the VIPs who attend the start of La Scala's season.
With tickets fetching up to 2,000 euros ($2,911) apiece, it
is seen as the exclusive preserve of Italy's elite, who appear
before the cameras in the reception hall in resplendent dress
and opulent jewellery.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is expected to attend,
along with his counterparts from Austria, Germany, and Greece.
La Scala's main guest conductor Daniel Barenboim will lead
the orchestra through operatic territory that has caused him
trouble. In 2001 he was criticised for performing a piece of
Wagner in Israel. Wagner was Adolf Hitler's favourite composer.
The stage director for the latest La Scala production is
France's Patrice Chereau, whose film "La Reine Margot" won him
the Cannes jury price in 1994.
British Ian Storey plays the role of Tristan and German
mezzosoprano Waltraud Meier Isolde.
A 19th-century German composer, Wagner was partly inspired
by philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer when he wrote "Tristan", a
tragic love story based on an ancient legend.
It is considered one of Wagner's most important works
because of the musical innovations he employed.
At a news conference on Thursday, Barenboim, who is also the
music director at Berlin's Staatsoper, said the three-act opera
was challenging because it demanded members of the orchestra to
concentrate for long periods of time.
The fact that virtually none of the musicians had ever
performed it was an extra challenge, he said.
"As a conductor I consider myself lucky to see how each one
discovers it," he said.
The last time La Scala held "Tristan" was in 1978.
La Scala's fiesty unions have also caused Barenboim trouble.
Last month, they went on strike in a dispute over pay and
contracts, forcing the cancellation of a performance of Verdi's
"Requiem" that he was to conduct.
Barenboim managed to avoid another potential problem at
Friday's opening night after the unions and the opera house's
management reached an agreement on production bonuses earlier
this week.
(Reporting by Gilles Castonguay, editing by Paul Casciato)
