1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. La Scala Opera House opened its doors on 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: August third, seventeen seventy eight, or two hundred and forty 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: six years ago today. If you're listening on drop Day, 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: so our episode on the Opera House is Today's Saturday Classic. 5 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: This originally came out on August eleventh, twenty fourteen. Enjoy 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class a production 7 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly from and 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 2: I'm Tracy Wilson. Tracy question, Yes, do you're like opera? 10 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 2: I would like to like opera, right, Well, I love opera, 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 2: but I'm always a little bit reticent to verbalize that 12 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 2: to people that know a lot about opera, because what 13 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 2: often happens is that they're then like excited and off again, 14 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: wanting to talk about like different performances and you know, 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: some very technical things, and I'm kind of like, no, 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 2: I just like to listen to it. But I'm not 17 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 2: really what you would call an opera scholar, even on 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 2: the most mild degree. But I really enjoy it. 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: And there are a lot of aspects of opera that 20 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 1: are actually in our daily lives, and we don't even 21 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: know about, and today we're going to talk about a 22 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: very famous opera house that has a legacy that touches 23 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: Probably anyone hearing this is life, whether they realize it 24 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: or not. If you grew up watching Bugs Bunny, if 25 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: you grew up watching television or film, you have heard 26 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: some of the work that came out of this sort 27 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: of hotbed of you know, really amazing cultural development. I 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: will make a brief aside about how one of them 29 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,320 Speaker 1: got involved in my wedding, sort of when we get 30 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: to that part and we're talking about the La Scala 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: opera house, the tetro A La Scala, which is one 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: of the most renowned opera houses in all the world. 33 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: It is Italy's crown jewel of the arts. Really, But 34 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: as I said, even if you only have a passing 35 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: knowledge of opera, or really you don't think you have 36 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: any knowledge of opera, odds, are you know a name 37 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: or two connected to the history of this legendary place, 38 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: Because it's one of those amazing icons that really actually 39 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:10,239 Speaker 1: touches and sort of ties together a lot of different 40 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: pieces of history on the timeline. So there are things 41 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: that you may not associate with opera that will kind 42 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: of get connected here, so we will start with how 43 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: it got built in the first place. On February twenty sixth, 44 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six, the Royal Ducal Theater burned to the 45 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: ground in a fire. Since the theater had really been 46 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: the heart of opera in Milan, they needed to build 47 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: a replacement, and at the time, the Royal House of 48 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:40,399 Speaker 1: Austria was actually ruling over Milan and Empress Maria Theresa 49 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 1: spearheaded this plan to replace this lost cultural landmark. And 50 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: again to place Maria Theresa in context, she was the 51 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: mother of the famed Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, as 52 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: well as the mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold 53 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: the Second. She had many many other children and really 54 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: kind of populated the way a lot of royal houses 55 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: throughout Europe. So that's the first person. 56 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 2: Who's kind of connected to this that you might not 57 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 2: have known about. The architect chosen for the task of 58 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 2: designing the new opera house was Giuseppe Pimerini. Pimerini is 59 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 2: now considered one of the great Neoclassical architects, and he 60 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 2: was no stranger to high profile gigs. He had also 61 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 2: worked on the Royal Palace of Milan, as well as 62 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 2: the Maria Teresa Hall of the Brudenci National Library, also 63 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 2: in Milan, and the cost of construction for this new 64 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 2: theater was funded by the people who had actually already 65 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 2: owned private boxes in the destroyed Dukyle Theater, and in 66 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 2: return these donors got renewed ownership of their boxes, so 67 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 2: in the new theater they would once again have a box, 68 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 2: as well as partial ownership of the land where the 69 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 2: theater was built. And prior to the theater going up, 70 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 2: the Church of Santa Maria Alascala had been standing on 71 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 2: that land and had to be demolished to make way 72 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 2: for the new facility, and the name Lascala was retained 73 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 2: as a way to kind of honor that church. It 74 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 2: took a little more than two years to build the 75 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: new building, and on August third, seventeen seventy eight, Milan's 76 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 2: new opera house, Teatro ela Scala, which translates to the 77 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 2: Theater at the Stairway, opened its doors. The first opera 78 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 2: performed there was Antonio Salieri's Europa Revealed. Mattia Varazzi wrote 79 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 2: the libretto, which centers on the story of Zeus's former 80 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 2: lover Europa. The plot begins with Europa being kidnapped but 81 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 2: just before her wedding and forced into marriage with the 82 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 2: King of Crete. After lots of dramatic twists and turns, 83 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 2: Europa is placed on the throne of Tire, although she 84 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 2: quickly turns over the seat of power to Esao and 85 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 2: his new love Semila after she performs their marriage and 86 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 2: so Lescala continued to offer operatic performances to great success 87 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 2: for many years. So again that was late seventeen hundreds 88 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 2: when it reopened its doors, when it opened its doors 89 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 2: to replace the previous theater. But then in the early 90 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 2: eighteen hundreds there were several developments that happened that really 91 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 2: sort of changed the complexion of La Scala's artistic offerings 92 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 2: and their focus. First, in eighteen twelve, an opera by 93 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 2: Joachino Rossini debuted and it was called The Touchstone. It 94 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 2: was the story of love tested by multiple suitors, with 95 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 2: a libretto that was written by Luigi Romanelli. This sparked 96 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: a move to what's called opera syria or serious opera, 97 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,039 Speaker 2: and the style focuses more on the solo voice and 98 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 2: belcanto or beautiful singing, although that's not what it was 99 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: called until a whole lot later. To explain volcanto, will 100 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 2: quote New York Times music writer Anthony Thomassini, who wrote 101 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 2: the following in two thousand and eight. In its narrowest sense, 102 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 2: belcanto opera refers to the early decades of nineteenth century 103 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 2: Italian opera, when Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti dominated the field, 104 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 2: but the overall concept of valcanto started much earlier, with 105 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 2: a consensus among opera enthusiasts that there was nothing more 106 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 2: ravishing than a beautiful voice singing a beautiful melodic line beautifully, 107 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 2: especially a melodic line driven by sensitive musical setting of 108 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 2: a poetic and singable text. 109 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: So whereas prior. 110 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 2: Operas had really included more chorus and orchestra elements, this 111 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 2: style kind of put those in the background. It favored 112 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 2: a single exquisite voice for pieces of performance, and Rossini's 113 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 2: opera was instantly successful, and it was performed dozens of 114 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 2: times over the course of its run. With Opera Siria 115 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 2: now at the forefront of Milan's apera culture, Rossini had 116 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 2: lots of additional works performed at La Scala over the 117 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 2: next thirteen years. These included Il Turco and Italia or 118 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 2: The Turk in Italy, his version of Cinderella Il Barbieri 119 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 2: de Sevilia or The Barber of Seville, which you're familiar 120 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 2: with if you've watched lots of books, Bunny and Otello, 121 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 2: among others. So as a brief aside, I will tell 122 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 2: you that The Rabbit of Seville is my absolute favorite 123 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 2: Bugs Bunny cartoon of all time. I also love What's 124 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 2: Opera Doc, But in the opera arena, the Rabbit of 125 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 2: Seville just works for me, largely because of all of 126 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 2: the great Charlie Chaplin callbacks they do so much. So 127 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 2: that is still from that cartoon is what was on 128 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 2: my wedding invitations. That's what I'm saying. 129 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: So I owe a little bit to Rossini there. The 130 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: other significant development for La Scala during this time was 131 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: the staging of several ballets by Salvadore Vegano and Carlo Blasi. 132 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: And Vigano shifted the focus of ballet to a narrative 133 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: style with his choreography. In this case, the dance told 134 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: a story in one arc, rather than just being a 135 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: series of sort of well staged movements. His choreo drama 136 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: as it came to be called, had been developed in 137 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: Vienna before he debuted it to Italian audiences, and once 138 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: he started having showings at Las Scala, it became very, 139 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: very popular and he ended up working at the famous 140 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: opera house for more than fifteen years, and during this 141 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: time while he was there, he staged, among others, Otello 142 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: de dalo la Vestal which is the Vestal Virgin and 143 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: e Titani which is the Titans. 144 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 2: Carlo Blasi was a dancer and a student of Vigano, 145 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 2: and in addition to continuing this narrative tradition of his 146 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 2: mentor's choreography, he was also rigorous in systematizing the technique 147 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 2: of ballet. He performed all over the world as a dancer, 148 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 2: and he wrote his first treatise on dance while working 149 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,800 Speaker 2: in Milan with Le Scala in eighteen twenty. His most 150 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 2: famous writing on the art was the Code of Terpsickory. 151 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 2: And in addition to advancing ballet technically, Blasi also promoted 152 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 2: the idea that artists could be cultured and familiar with 153 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 2: all of the arts, not just their own. Yeah, he 154 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 2: really kind of fostered this idea that any dancers were 155 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 2: working with him needed to also be reading literature, they 156 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 2: needed to be studying music, They needed to be really 157 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 2: well rounded kind of Renaissance people in that regard. The 158 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 2: work of both Vegano and Blasi established Le Scala in 159 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,360 Speaker 2: the world of ballet as well as the world of opera, 160 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 2: where it had already been succeeding, and it sort of 161 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 2: built its reputation as a theater where which just excellence 162 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 2: prevailed amongst all manner of the arts. So during that 163 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 2: time two particular composers became just prolific at Lascala. The 164 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 2: first was Gaetano Donizetti, and he premiered his opera Schiara 165 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 2: a Serafina in October of eighteen twenty two. The libretto 166 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 2: was by Felice Romani. Because the work had just been 167 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 2: rushed due to all kinds of problems and illnesses among 168 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 2: the production members, the reception was mediocre. In spite of that, 169 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,439 Speaker 2: he continued to produce work for Lascala as well as 170 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 2: for many other opera houses for years afterward, including an 171 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:52,559 Speaker 2: opera entitled Lucregia Borgia. He continued to serve the popularity 172 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 2: of the belcanto style Yeah since I know we have 173 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 2: a lot of Borgia fans in the listening audience on 174 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 2: to make sure they knew that there's an opera about Lucrezia. 175 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 2: The other important composer from this time is Vincenzo Bellini, 176 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 2: and he debuted his opera Il Perata or The Pirate 177 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 2: in eighteen twenty seven at La Scala. And Bellini's signature 178 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 2: was really his amazing talent for writing vocal melody that's 179 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 2: been characterized as both pure and sensuous, and his influence 180 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 2: as apparent throughout the world of opera, following him in 181 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 2: the works of many other famous composers, including Wagner, Chopin, 182 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 2: and liszt So. While the entirety of La Scala is 183 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 2: very influential, he in particular influenced several composers that came 184 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 2: after him, Like Donizetti. Bellini was another artist who was 185 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 2: linked to the belcanto style, although Bellini is generally believed 186 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 2: to be the more gifted of the two in the 187 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 2: area of vocal harmonies. Yeah, some of his work is 188 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 2: just really beautiful to listen to you, And like I said, 189 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 2: I you know, my knowledge of music theory and opera 190 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 2: is very limited. But I still just am always struck 191 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 2: by how absolutely beautiful some of these pieces are. 192 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:03,480 Speaker 1: And then there isn't we get to a time when 193 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: another really huge name that everyone will probably recognize that's 194 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: attached to Lascala kind of emerges, and that is in 195 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty nine, Oberto Conte di San Bonifacio, the Count 196 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: of San Benifescio, debuted at Lascala, and this was the 197 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: first work of Giuseppe Verdi to do so, and it 198 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 1: kicked off a very long career for him and many 199 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: years of debuts by the composer at the famed Milan 200 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: opera house, And in fact, Verdi is usually the most 201 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: famous composer associated with Lascala. Everyone sort of recognizes his name, 202 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 1: even if they couldn't maybe pull one of his tunes 203 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: out of their memory. Verdi and Lascala became deeply linked, 204 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: to a degree beyond that of any other composer. While 205 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: working on his first opera, he lost his infant daughter, 206 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: and the second baby that he had with his wife, 207 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 1: a son, died roughly a year after the debut of Oberto. 208 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: It said that when Verdi's wife died while he was 209 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: working on his second opera and the work in Giorno 210 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: di regno or King for a Day was not well received. 211 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 1: It was the manager of Loscala at the time who 212 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: urged him to continue composing and to find solace in 213 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,959 Speaker 1: his work instead of quitting, which he had threatened to do. 214 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, so in that regard, Bartolomeo Merelli, who was the 215 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 2: manager of the theater at the time, really kind of 216 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,959 Speaker 2: saved the creative life of Verity and impacted him in 217 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 2: a sort of reciprocal way to the way that many 218 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 2: of these composers were impacting the opera house. Because if 219 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:39,319 Speaker 2: he had quit, oh, we would have been robbed of 220 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 2: some beautiful stuff. And while that second opera, Gianna d'r 221 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 2: reno or King for a Day didn't go so well, 222 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 2: his third work that he did after that, Nabuco, debuted 223 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 2: in eighteen forty two, and this was really like the 224 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 2: moment where he sort of rocketed to stardom. And that 225 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,719 Speaker 2: may sound like a weird phrase, but I mean, at 226 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 2: this point, particularly in Illa, in Europe in general, but 227 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,720 Speaker 2: Italy especially, composers were kind of like rock stars. I mean, 228 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 2: they were basically the celebrities of the day. And so 229 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 2: his career really just kind of shot on an almost 230 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 2: vertical trajectory at this point, and as a consequence, his 231 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 2: career with Lascala lasted more than fifty years. He did 232 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,679 Speaker 2: retire for a little bit in the towards the end 233 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 2: of it, and then he ended up working on his 234 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,680 Speaker 2: last couple of pieces as collaborations with another composer. But 235 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,320 Speaker 2: he sort of became famous and then stayed famous for 236 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 2: decades working with Lascala. Perhaps his most famous opera, which 237 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 2: was the Tale of enslaved Ethiopian Princess Aida, was rare 238 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 2: in that it didn't premiere at Lascala. It was first 239 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 2: presented at the Cairo Opera House in eighteen seventy one, 240 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 2: and then it premiered at La Scala shortly afterward. 241 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a story that he did not attend the 242 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: Cairo Opera House premiere, but what he heard about how 243 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:58,480 Speaker 1: it had gone did not really delight him. 244 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 2: It was mostly dignitaries and invite only and kind of 245 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 2: higher echelonza society. And he really appreciated that opera was 246 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 2: one of those things that could be appreciated by anyone, 247 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 2: and so he really sort of considered the La Scala 248 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 2: premiere the premier because there were people from all layers 249 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 2: of society, not only the sort of wealthy and famous 250 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 2: and privileged. And among the famous pieces that Verdi did 251 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 2: debut at La Scala during his fifty year run there 252 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 2: were Giovanna Darco, Otello and Falstaff, which was the last one. 253 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 2: And he wrote more than two dozen operas during his career. 254 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 2: So when you think about a fifty year career, that's 255 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 2: an opera every couple of years, which is really quite. 256 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: Busy. I can't I certainly can't imagine doing it. But 257 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: that would be like an author writing a book every 258 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: two years, which some do, but very few keep up 259 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: that pace. Often mentioned a second only to Verdi among 260 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: Italian composers, Puccini emerged as the composer celeb of La 261 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,680 Speaker 1: Scala as the eighteen hundreds were ending, but he is 262 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: responsible for one of the most famous, if not the 263 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: most proud, incidents at the theater. In December of nineteen 264 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: oh four, Jacomo Puccini debuted Madama Butterfly. Although the opening 265 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 1: night was really something of a fiasco, and the word 266 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: fiasco gets used almost every time someone writes about this 267 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: particular event, it's a rather famous tale among opera enthusiasts 268 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: and opera fans because it's just so crazy. And while 269 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: Puccini was brimming with confidence regarding the quality of this 270 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: particular work, the production itself was played with problems. As 271 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: the opera was only recently completed when Puccini arrived in 272 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: Milan for rehearsals, the singers got their parts only a 273 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: few pages at a time. On top of that, music 274 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: was not allowed. 275 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 2: To leave the theater, and the press was not allowed 276 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 2: to sit in on rehearsals, which was a privilege they 277 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 2: had enjoyed for a long time. This only served to 278 00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 2: make critics angry and predisposed to dislike the piece. And 279 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 2: while the crowd on opening night, according to at least 280 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 2: some witnesses, was hostile from the get go, the entrance 281 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 2: of Butterfly is really when things started to just go 282 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 2: south in a hurry. And remember that opera huge in 283 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 2: Italy at the time. Crowds very familiar with the work 284 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 2: of famous composers, and so a portion of the melody 285 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 2: that she sang sounded to some people similar to an 286 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 2: element from Puccini's previous work. La Boem and some members 287 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 2: of the crowd started to call out what they felt 288 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 2: was lazy composing, and they started yelling during the performance 289 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,840 Speaker 2: Boem Boem because they were trying to point out that 290 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 2: he was sort of plagiarizing himself. At this point, the 291 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 2: crowd became polarized between supporters and detractors, and attendees started 292 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 2: yelling at each other in the stage so much that 293 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 2: no one could hear the singing and during the intermetso 294 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 2: when performers had been placed around the theater bird whistles 295 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:05,560 Speaker 2: to create this realistic soundscape of dawn breaking, Heckler's in 296 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,720 Speaker 2: the audience saw this bird song as their cue to 297 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,440 Speaker 2: make other animal noises, so they you know, started doing 298 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 2: all kinds of other bizarre and rude noises and just 299 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 2: basically kind of having their own little heyday with things. 300 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,919 Speaker 2: And the entire opera went on this way with an 301 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 2: unruly crowd basically bent on ruining the debut. And there's 302 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 2: some debate over sort of what really caused the sort 303 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 2: of rabble rousing. There are some stories that say that 304 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 2: Puccini's rivals sort of were working prior to this debut 305 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 2: really trying to like jab at the critics and point 306 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,160 Speaker 2: out how poorly they had been treated in not being 307 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 2: allowed into rehearsals and kind of stirring the pot. But 308 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 2: others just say like there was just this general sense 309 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 2: of distrust of the whole thing, in part because of 310 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,679 Speaker 2: that and because nobody had heard the music. This was 311 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 2: again a time when it was so popular that sheet 312 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 2: music would be sold kind of to the general public 313 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,400 Speaker 2: to consume, much the same way you would buy an 314 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 2: album of a band that you were going to see 315 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,159 Speaker 2: before the concert happened, and none of that was allowed 316 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 2: since the music had been held so tightly. So it 317 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 2: was kind of just this perfect storm of people being 318 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 2: grumpy about the premiere of Madama Butterfly. I feel like 319 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 2: it's like Spider Man Unlock the Dark, except to the 320 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 2: best of my knowledge, no one died in terrible stunts. No, 321 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 2: I don't think anybody died in Spider Man. But there 322 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 2: were some injuries, right, So the reviews were terrible. But 323 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 2: Puccini always thought that Butterfly was his best work, and 324 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 2: when he staged it the following year in the northern 325 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 2: Italian city of Brescia, people created it much more warmly. 326 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 2: It's really come to be recognized as the amazing work 327 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 2: that it is. Sort of transcended that horrible opening, and 328 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 2: even despite the butterfly incident, Puccini was really much loved 329 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 2: by Italy, and when he died sometime later in nineteen 330 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,000 Speaker 2: twenty four, while he was working on his final opera, Torondeau, 331 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 2: the entire country really mourned. Some will even described this 332 00:19:12,119 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 2: as a morning that went on for a couple of years. 333 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 2: They really felt the loss of this artist. So we've 334 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 2: talked a lot about composers up to this point, but 335 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 2: there have been other figures who had a significant impact 336 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 2: on the development and direction of La Scala through the years. 337 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,000 Speaker 1: Arturo Toscanini was appointed artistic director of La Scala in 338 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety eight, so, as you know, Verdi's stuff was 339 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: wrapping up and Puccini was coming in. Toscanini was renowned 340 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: as a conductor. He said to have stepped in to 341 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,159 Speaker 1: conduct a performance of Aida at the Rio de Genio 342 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: opera House as a last minute fill in when he 343 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: was only nineteen, and he performed the entire opera from memory. 344 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,959 Speaker 1: He had a wonderful memory that apparently served him very 345 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: well as he got older, because he lost his eyesight 346 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: and had to start conducting exclusively memory but in terms 347 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,280 Speaker 1: of his leadership role at Lascala, he completely reorganized the 348 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: entire structure of the theater, both from an artistic and 349 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: an administrative perspective. He restaged many of the works of 350 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: the opera house's most famous composers, and his interpretations reinvigorated 351 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 1: a lot of pieces for the public ear He's said 352 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,680 Speaker 1: to have been able to pull the finest playing from 353 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: the orchestra. He also brought the performance of symphonic works 354 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,879 Speaker 1: into Lascala's performance calendar, which allowed the orchestra to be 355 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: the star instead of the singers. Yeah, similar to how 356 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: you know, the choreographers had kind of expanded Lascala's repertoire 357 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: to include ballet. He really expanded it by not only 358 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: staging operas but also just huge symphonies. And then in 359 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,119 Speaker 1: more recent years, Lascala has had some off stage drama 360 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: to contend with. At the end of two thousand and one, 361 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: the theater concluded its run of Otello and it temporarily 362 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: closed its doors for a pretty significant renovation. So from 363 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: two thousand and two January two thousand and two to 364 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: late two thousand and four, this major construction project was 365 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 1: underway and there were really a lot of fears among 366 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: Italians and even worldwide among people that were just huge 367 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 1: fans and recognized the historic and important nature of La 368 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: Scala that modernizing this facility was going to destroy some 369 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: of the building's heritage. Despite the concerns, this entirely rebuilt 370 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: stage let the theater perform three different shows in a 371 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: single day, and the sound quality of the venue was 372 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: improved when the heavy hallway carpets were taken away. Seating 373 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: capacity was expanded to twoy one hundred five seats from 374 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: one thousand, eight hundred, and during the restoration, a walled 375 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: over fireplace was found in one of the boxes along 376 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: the second level, and the boxes, which used to be 377 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 1: privately owned, were all refurbished. Yeah, they tried to even 378 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: though they were modernized a lot of stuff. They did 379 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: sort of some complete kind of historical restoration type decor 380 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,919 Speaker 1: in some of the boxes. And on December fifth of 381 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: two thousand and four, the New York Times reported that 382 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: La Scala had reopened exactly on time, just a little 383 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: bit over budget, and with fantastic new acoustics. So this 384 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: all sounded great. The theater opened with the staging of 385 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: the same opera, which had run when it first opened 386 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: its doors in seventeen seventy eight Salieri's Europa Riconciuda, and 387 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: tickets for this performance ran into the thousands of dollars range. 388 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: People were very excited to be part of this new reopening. 389 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: But just a year later, the BBC ran a story 390 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: that seemed to suggest a bloomy future for the opera house. 391 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: Budgets for the arts in Italy were being slashed and 392 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: Lascala's future really didn't seem all that secure. In the 393 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: months preceding that article, the head of the theater had 394 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: been fired and the conductor of fifteen years, Ricardo Muti quit. Yeah, 395 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: looked there was a while where there was a lot 396 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: of head shaking and you know, sort of glowery faces 397 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: and people really thinking that Lascala had finally been, you know, 398 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: after two hundred years kind of run into the ground. 399 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: But in fact, thankfully the theater has weathered the storm. 400 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: You know, through some strong leadership and some really devoted staff. 401 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 1: It's been able to kind of get through those rough 402 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 1: times and put together a business plan that's kept it going. 403 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:30,440 Speaker 1: It's about to have a planned change of leadership this year, 404 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: this coming October, when stefan listener who has been there 405 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: for a while, is going to leave his position. He's 406 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: going to the Paris Opera and Alexander Pereira is going 407 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: to take over the position he comes from, I believe, 408 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: an opera house in Germany. In addition to its theatrical 409 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: opera productions, Lascala also still houses its ballet company, a 410 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: ballet school, and a voice school. While the theater still 411 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: does get a government subsidy, the operating costs are also 412 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: covered by ticket sales and immuniiciple tacks. 413 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 2: So yeah, it is still thankfully going strong, and it's 414 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 2: one of those things I wanted to cover because it 415 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,119 Speaker 2: is the artists that were sort of supported by this 416 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 2: theater have been so impactful, and like I said, there 417 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 2: are so many songs that you hear that you don't 418 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 2: even realize are by composers that came out of La Scala, 419 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 2: So it's important. Stuffs. Thanks so much for joining us 420 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 2: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 421 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 2: if you heard an email address or a Facebook RL 422 00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:36,880 Speaker 2: or something similar over the course of the show, that 423 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 2: could be obsolete. Now. Our current email address is History 424 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:45,719 Speaker 2: Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can find us all 425 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,959 Speaker 2: over social media at Missed in History, and you can 426 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,679 Speaker 2: subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the 427 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. 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