MILAN (AP) β La Scala’s gala season premier “Fidelio” on Sunday marks Daniel Barenboim’s final opening night bow as musical director as Italian opera enters one of its most tumultuous seasons in memory.
The season opener is one of the most glittering events on Europe’s culture calendar, attended by leading figures of Italian industry, fashion and politics.
Barenboim’s departure after what he called “nine truly wonderful years” coincides with a management change at La Scala and generalized disarray as top artistic figures depart opera houses in the country where opera was born.
The Argentinian-born Israeli conductor leaves La Scala at the end of the year to focus on an academy for Middle Eastern musicians.
“Fidelio” stars German soprano Anja Kampe in the title role, alongside Klaus Florian Vogt as the unjustly imprisoned Florestan.
