Word: scala
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Today, though, there is a growing interest in Rossini, and last week Milan's La Scala revived one of his most difficult operas: The Siege of Corinth. A papier-mache tragedy about the Turkish conquest of Greece in the 15th century, it was not well liked at its Naples premiere in 1820; the audience expected Rossini's usual opera buffa, not blood and fireworks. The work fared little better elsewhere in Italy. Audiences found it too moralistic; singers were terrorized by its complexities. In fact, it was last heard at La Scala more than a century...
Searching the Dustbins. In large part, the new Siege bore a made-in-U.S.A. stamp. American Conductor Thomas Schippers was on the podium, and his three principal singers were also American. Soprano Beverly Sills of the New York City Opera made a stunning La Scala debut as the Greek heroine Pamira. Mezzo-Soprano Marilyn Home displayed her rich vocal resources as the young Greek army officer Neocle (in the 19th century,female singers were often cast as young men). Puerto Rican-born Justino Diaz of the Met filled the basso role of the Turkish sultan with majesty and brilliance...
Ponelle, fortunately, has had better luck with his other works. At the age of 36, he is the most sought-after set designer and director for theater and opera in Europe. Last week, at the opening of the La Scala opera season in Milan, his latest paintings hung as backdrops for his own new production of Verdi's Don Carlos. Ponelle's dark, brooding sets, painted on black velvet to emphasize the somber mood of the drama, suggested El Greco canvases come to life. The naturalistic direction he gave to the expert cast assembled by Conductor Claudio Abbado...
...strain. One of his favorite jokes describes "the noisiest thing in the world?two skeletons making love on a tin roof." A hardheaded Scotch drinker (only at night), he has smashed upwards of $700 worth of crockery in bouzouki establishments, and has been known to snore in a La Scala opera box during a Callas première. Even his fellow Greek shipping kings long dismissed him as a crude upstart. Says one acquaintance: "He was trash to some Greeks, the way old Joe Kennedy was trash to some Irish...
Zeffirelli's reputation was established at La Scala in Milan, where in 1954 he designed the costumes and sets for, and staged a production of Rossini's La Cenerentola. It was the beginning of the Zeffirelli style-the flamboyant baroque settings, the epic brio that could turn a war horse into a steeplechaser. Although triumphant in opera, he has been somewhat less successful on the dramatic stage. His incoherent Othello was throttled by reviewers at Stratford-on-Avon. After seeing Zeffirelli's Broadway production of The Lady of the Camellias, TIME's critic called...