La Scala - March 23, 2006

I was finally able to get tickets for La Scala. I settled on an Italian opera called Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti. The house was packed and La Scala is considered to be one of the top opera houses in the world so I had to experience it. The opera house has been around since 1778 and recently underwent major renovations. Composers like Giuseppe Verdi and singers like Maria Callas were among the people who performed at La Scala. The interior or the opera house is really different from the exterior which is really unassuming. The interior is exactly what you would expect an Italian opera house to look like, red lining everywhere, grand chandeliers, marble statues everywhere. The house seats 2800 and the stage is surrounded by box seats. The box seats are stacked and go as high as 6 levels up. I was on the first level 8 boxes away from the stage so I thought I had good seats considering I shelled out close to $140! Well, it turns out these tiny boxes can only allow two people to see the stage completely. They seat 5 max per box so I had to stand for most of the performance and lean out behind the two people in front of me. One of the guys in the box actually fell asleep during the show! Aside from the extra work of having to peer out to see the complete stage the production values were top notch. The stage and set designs were so realistic it was amazing. The singers and the costumes too were world class. If I had to go again I would buy tickets further in the back of the "U" shaped row of boxes so I could get a better view but it's definitely an experience.