There are no fashion shows or Fuorisalone parties that hold a candle to the comparison: the evening of Sant’Ambrogio, with the Premiere of the Teatro alla Scala and the parterre of spectators and guests who crowd into the foyer and among the Piermarini armchairs, remains unquestionably the most awaited and commented on, the most worldly and at the same time political occasion of the city.
Yes, even politics: because all of Milan and also Italy “that matter” have always paraded at the Prima: politicians, in fact, but also senior public and private executives, bankers, entrepreneurs. This year – listening to and watching Modest Petrovič Musorgski’s «Boris Godunov», conducted by maestro Riccardo Chailly and directed by Kasper Holten – there will also be a piece of Europe that counts.
Politicians: «sold out» box of honor
In fact, alongside the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, we will see the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, leaning out of the crowded box of honor (“sold out” like the whole theatre, apparently), in whose honor the Verona orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, not before having paid homage to the Italian Republic with Mameli’s anthem, of course. Republic represented, in addition to the President already mentioned, also by the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and then by the local authorities, the mayor of Milan Beppe sala and the president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana.
The world of art, entertainment and culture
In addition to personalities from politics and the economy, there will be exponents from the world of entertainment and art. Among these, the director Luca Guadagnino and the actors Stefano Accorsi, Fabrizio Gifuni and Sonia Bergamasco. Space also for the world of dance, of which the Milanese Theater is one of the last bastions in Italy: for this reason it wanted to invite some personalities from its dance corps, who are now also known to the general public, including its first dancers Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Andrijashenko, Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino, and Alice Mariani, as well as the stars Roberto Bolle and Beppe Menegatti.
Among the representatives of culture there will be the writer Alessandro Baricco, the Slavists Fausto Malcovati and Cesare De Michelis, the publisher Luca Formenton (il Saggiatore), the CEO of Adelphi Roberto Colaianni, the Superintendent of the Pinacoteca di Brera James Bradburne, the architects Stefano Boeri, president of the Triennale, Mario Botta and Italo Rota.