La Scala Museum

Roderick Eime, cc by, via Flickr

We visited the La Scala Museum recently, and it was a blast! The museum houses some of Verdi's personal belongings, and it is an active theater house as well.  The theater has been around since 1778, and it was originally known as New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala.  It can seat 2,800 people, and it opened on August 3rd, 1778. The museum has 11 floors, and each floor is different. One one floor, there was a piano from 1883 that is still perfectly tuned, and it is played on special occasions.

On our way to La Scala, we actually got lost two times, but we finally found it the third time. Third time's the charm!  The reason we were lost is because the museum entrance is tucked away between La Scala Theater Shop and a restaurant. If you're looking for the entrance at La Scala Theater, you're two doors away!

The actual theater is impressive. You are allowed to view the theater from the box seat during the self-guided tour of the museum, as long as there are no performances happening. Verdi had his operas here in La Scala, and people loved them. His first opera, Oberto, was performed here in La Scala. It was a great success. Soon after, his wife and children died. He became very sad. There are a number of his portraits in this museum as well. This museum is located near Duomo.  It is a inexpensive one, which is an economic choice for those who don't want to spend too much.

According to Teatro alla Scala, "Giuseppe Piermarini, here in the portrait by Martino Knoller, is the architect of La Scala. When the Teatro Ducale burnt in 1776, inside the Palazzo di Corte, in Piazza del Duomo, he had been working in Milan for some years. The painting shows him with in his hands one of his work instruments, the compass. In this period Piermarini was at his busiest in Milan, involved as he was in the construction not only of the Royal Palace and Teatro Grande alla Scala, inaugurated in 1778, but also of the successively renamed Teatro Lirico, the Palazzo Belgioioso and the Villa Reale in Monza, besides restructuring the Brera courtyard. In designing Milan’s new theatre, top-most in Piermarini’s mind were considerations of maximum functionality, with the definition of accessory spaces for workshops, lunch and games rooms, and bathrooms, as well as a state-of-the art technology for the stage. The innovative choice of horseshoe-shaped hall was considered at the time to be the best for acoustics."

Photo By Spixey, cc by, via Flickr

-Emilio Galo