MILAN – Milan’s famous opera house, La Scala, announced the opening of its new season on Monday with the Russian opera “Boris Godunov”, highlighting the separation of art from politics.

 Every year, on December 7, the day of the feast of the patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose's La Scala, organises the grand opening of the opera season.  It is one of the most anticipated cultural events in Europe. This year’s edition will launch with the showing of the masterpiece Modest Mussorgsky, which the La Scala program describes “a disturbing fresco on the brutality and solitude of power.”

 La Scala was one of the first opera houses to ostracise the head of the Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev who didn’t respond to the appeal to condemn Russian’s invasion of Ukraine. The La Scala management separated Valery Giergiev from other Russian performers. “We considered him like a politician. The others, no. He is almost culture minister,” said artistic director of the theatre, Dominique Meyer.

 The repertoire for 2022-23 was created a long time before the beginning of the war in Ukraine and also features Russian artists in various opera spectacles including soprano, Anna Netrebko and bass, Ildar Abdrazakov. Milan’s opera house opposes the cancellation of Russian performances. The musical director, Riccardo Chailly highlighted the importance of bringing back to life masterpieces that are completely independent of the events, “great music can live independently, as it should be.”

 As a part of the 2022-23 edition, 14 opera titles with 90 performances are scheduled, as well as seven ballets, seven symphonic concerts including Mahler's octave and special concerts, guest orchestras, recitals.

 Moreover, the repertoire for La Scala’s next season contains seven new productions: the baroque opera Li zite 'ngalera by Leonardo Vinci, sung in Neapolitan with Italian subtitle, Rusalka by Dvorak directed by Emma Dante, L'amore dei tre re by Italo Montemezzi directed by Fura dels Baus and Michele Mariotti, Peter Grimes signed by Robert Carsen and the director Simone Young, Les contes d'Hoffmann entrusted to Davide Livermore, I vespri siciliani with Fabio Luisi and directed by Hugo De Ana, and Boris directed by Kasper Holten.

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