It may be hot, but try to be a bit less bohème, La Scala tells its audiences
AS ONE of the world’s celebrated opera houses, La Scala in Milan expects a certain degree of decorum, but guardians of the elite institution have been appalled at the shabby state of audiences this summer.
Instead of donning jackets and evening dresses, ticket holders are turning up as if dressed for the beach, as temperatures reach 95F (35C) or more during one of Italy’s hottest summers for years. The worst culprits are normally foreign tourists but even Italians are not averse to arriving in shorts, mini-skirts and sandals.
Aficionados were appalled this month to see a group of casually dressed American students, who attended a performance of La bohème, eating burgers and French fries from Mcdonald’s during the interval. It was “as if they were at a village food festival”, one outraged veteran said on a Facebook site dedicated to opera.
The 239-year-old theatre’s dress code is spelled out on its website, in Italian and English, with the warning: “People wearing shorts or sleeveless T-shirts will not be allowed inside the auditorium; in this case, tickets will not be reimbursed.”
La Scala’s ushers, however, have come up with a pragmatic and less draconian response to people who appear in overly casual attire, advising them to nip around the corner and buy a pair of trousers or a longer skirt from a high street fashion store.
“We’re seeing this every day,” one usher told La Repubblica newspaper. “We advise them to go to H&M, which is not far away. The foreigners mostly rush off to the shop. But the Italians often get really angry.”
Paolo Besana, La Scala’s spokesman, told The Daily Telegraph: “Most people respect the rules but it’s summer, and of course we have global warming, and so some come in T-shirts and shorts.
“Our audience is quite traditional and it’s important for them to see other people being well-dressed. It is do with respect for the place and respect for others. Just because it’s hot doesn’t mean you can’t be elegant.” He said, jokingly, that so many tourists had rushed off to H&M that, “we should ask for a commission from them”.
Debate rages over whether La Scala should remain the rarefied haunt of the well-heeled elite, or open itself up to a broader spectrum of operagoers, whatever they choose to wear. “If someone turns up in jeans and sandals, who cares?” one opera fan wrote on Facebook. “What counts is that they are there to appreciate the music.”
But Natalia Aspesi, a well-known social commentator, said La Scala was “the only place in Milan, and maybe in Italy, in which it would seem appropriate to wear a jacket and tie”.”