La Scala to end uproar by repaying Saudis

MILAN — Italy’s famed La Scala opera house will immediately return 3 million euros ($5 million Cdn) sent to an escrow account by Saudi Arabia in what Milan’s mayor on Monday termed a badly handled fundraising deal. But he did not rule out future dealings with the kingdom despite concerns raised over its human rights record.

Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala told reporters that La Scala’s board decided to return the money deposited earlier this year by the Saudi culture minister without a proper indication of its purpose and before the board had been formally notified of fundraising discussions with Saudi officials by La Scala’s general manager.

While the current procedure aimed at making Saudi Arabia an official financial backer of the opera house was officially closed, Sala refused to rule out future talks with the kingdom. He said a planned tour by La Scala’s orchestra in 2020 will go ahead as planned.

“We are not closing doors to Saudi Arabia,” Sala said.

“It depends on the form of cooperation. We will do the tour. I wouldn’t make a list of countries where it doesn’t make sense to go, also because this kind of activity can help in respect to the situation that exists today in Saudi Arabia.”

The fundraising deal, for example, foresaw the establishment of a music school run by La Scala’s academy that would be open to all Saudi children regardless of gender.

The kingdom is under increased scrutiny internationally since the killing of a Saudi journalist inside its consulate in Istanbul last October and the plight of a Saudi woman who turned to social media to help escape alleged family abuse.