A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Scala, La
SCALA, LA. The proprietors of the Ducal Theatre of Milan, which was burnt in 1776, obtained, by a decree of July 15, 1776, from the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, leave to build a new opera-house on the site of the church of S. Maria della Scala. The celebrated architect, Piermarini of Foligno, made the designs, and it was inaugurated Aug. 3, 1778. The building was not only the grandest theatre then existing in Europe, but the most artistically beautiful and complete. Levati and Reina painted the ceiling, the boxes, and the great hall, or ridotto; and the curtain, representing Parnassus, was the work of Riccardi. The cost of the whole amounted to one million lire (£40,000), an enormous sum for that time. Until 1857 the principal entrance of La Scala was from a bye-street, but since that date it opens on to a large and beautiful piazza, or square.
The interior of the house is in the horseshoe form, with five tiers of boxes and a gallery above them, all in white, relieved by gilded ornaments. The lowest three tiers have each 36 boxes, and a royal box above the entrance to the stalls. The fourth and fifth tiers have each 39 boxes, and there are four on each side of the proscenium, making a total of 194 boxes, besides the large royal box and the gallery, each box having a private room at its back for the convenience of its occupants.
The length of the whole building is 330 ft., and its width 122 ft. The height from the floor to the ceiling is 65 ft. The stage, with the proscenium, is 145 ft. long and 54 wide between the columns of the proscenium, but is 98 ft. wide further behind. The ridotto, a large hall for promenading between the acts, is 82 ft. long and 30 ft. wide. The house holds 620 stalls, and in place of a pit there is standing-room for 600 persons. The boxes can accommodate 1900 spectators, and the gallery 500 more; so that the total capacity of the house for operatic representations is 3,600. But the same theatre, when changed into a ball-room, can contain more than 7000 persons. This immense institution permanently employs 922 persons on its staff, distributed in the following way:—Artist-singers, 20; orchestra, 100; band, 28; choristers, 110; 'comparse,' 120; ballet, 140; dressmakers and tailors, 150; doctors, 6; servants, 36, etc.
The gentlemen who provided the funds for the building of La Scala enjoy the use of its boxes at a nominal rental whenever the theatre is open, each box having its owner. In all other respects the theatre has been the property of the town of Milan since 1872. The municipality grants to its lessee an annual sum of £9,800, and the owners of the boxes pay £2,920; and thus La Scala enjoys an endowment of £12,720 a year. The theatre is controlled by a Commission elected by the Common Council of Milan and the owners of its boxes.
Annexed to the theatre is a celebrated dancing school, with 60 pupils, where the most famous ballet-dancers have been trained, and a singing school for about 50 choristers. Two charitable institutions—I Filarmonici, founded by Marchesi in 1783, and the Teatrale, by Modrone in 1829 are also dependent for their income upon the greatest theatre of Italy.
The theatre has undergone no fundamental change since its erection, except occasional necessary restorations, the latest of which took place in 1878, when it was regilt throughout, statutes erected to Rossini and Donizetti, etc.
If La Scala boasts of being the largest and most beautiful theatre of Italy, it has also the honour of having produced on its stage the largest number of new and successful operas and of great singers. We shall only mention here the most successful operas and ballets which, being written expressly for that stage, were first performed there; remembering that as the theatre has been open every year for 103 years, many other operas were given with varying success.
| Year. | Title of Work. | Composer. |
| 1778 | Europa ricunosciuta | Salieri. |
| 1787 | Il Vecchio geloso | Alessandri. |
| 1784 | I due supposti Conti | Cimarosa. |
| 1787 | Ifigenia in Aulide | Zingarelli. |
| 1791 | Le Morte di Cesare | Do. |
| 1792 | Pirro, Be di Epiro | Do. |
| {{{1}}}„ | Il Mercato di Monfregoso | Do. |
| 1793 | La Secchia rapita | Do. |
| 1794 | Artaserse | Do. |
| 1796 | Giulietta e Romeo | Do. |
| 1801 | Baccanali di Roma | Nicolini. |
| 1807 | Adelasia ed Abramo | Mayr. |
| 1808 | Il rivale di se stesso | Weigl. |
| 1812 | La vedova stravagante | Generali. |
| {{{1}}}„ | La Pietra del Paragone | Rossini. |
| 1814 | Aureliano in Palmira | Do. |
| {{{1}}}„ | Il Turco in Italia | Do. |
| 1817 | La Gazza ladra | Do. |
| 1820 | Margherita d'Anjou | Meyerbeer. |
| 1821 | Elisa e Claudio | Mercadante. |
| 1823 | La Vestale | Pacini. |
| 1827 | Gli Arabi nelle Gallie | Do. |
| {{{1}}}„ | Il Pirata | Bellini. |
| 1829 | La Straniera | Do. |
| 1831 | Chiara di Rosemberg | Ricci. |
| 1832 | Norma | Bellini. |
| 1834 | Lucrezia Borgia | Donizetti. |
| {{{1}}}„ | Un Avventura di Scaramuccia | Ricci. |
| 1835 | Gemma di Vergy | Donizetti. |
| 1837 | Il Giuramente | Mercadante. |
| 1839 | Il Bravo | Do. |
| 1839 | Oberto, Conte di S. Bonifacio | Verdi. |
| 1842 | Nabuco | Do. |
| 1843 | I Lombardi | Do. |
| 1866 | L'Assedio di Leida | Petrella. |
| 1868 | Ione | Do. |
| 1868 | Mefistofele. | Boito. |
| 1869 | Ruy Blas. | Marchetti. |
| 1876 | La Gioconda. | Ponchielli. |
| 1880 | Il Figliuol prodigo. | Do. |
La Scala has always been renowned for its splendid and gorgeous ballets, amongst which were most successful—
| 1778 | I Prigionleri di Cipro | Salieri. |
| 1787 | I due Avari | Ricci. |
| 1797 | Il General Colli in Roma | Lefevre. |
| 1807 | Enea e Turno | Gallet. |
| 1809 | Cesare in Egitto | Gioia. |
| 1812 | Gli Strelitzi | Vigano. |
| 1830 | La Conquista di Malacca | S. Taglioni. |
| 1833 | Guglielmo Tell | Henry. |
| 1845 | Esmeralda | Pugni. |
| 1854 | Un fallo | Giorza. |
| 1856 | Shakespeare | Do. |
| 1865 | Flik e Flok | Hertel. |
| 1864 | Velleda | Dell 'Argine |
| 1867 | Sardanapalo | Hertel. |
| 1881 | Excelsior. | Maresco. |
We should unduly prolong this article were we to mention the names of all the great artists who have gained their merited applause on the boards of La Scala. It is sufficient to state that few great artists can be found within the last hundred years who have not deemed it an honour and a duty to appear on that celebrated stage, and win the approval of the Milanese public. Further information may be obtained from the 'Teatro alla Scala 1778–1862,' by Luigi Romani (Milan, 1862); and the 'Reali Teatri di Milano' by Cambiasi (Ricordi, Milan, 1881).
Besides La Scala, Milan boasts of several other theatres, where operas are performed either exclusively, or at certain seasons of the year, instead of dramas. These theatres are, La Canobbiana, Il Carcano, Dal Verme, Santa Redegonda, Re Nuovo, and Fossati. At the Filodrammatici and San Simone are given amateur performances of operatic and orchestral music, to which admission is obtained only by invitation. The Milanese Società del Quartetto has obtained great reputation for its masterly performances of classical music, especially in recent years.