«The most important news is the return of the public. The other good news is that our private supporters, despite the difficulties of this period, have not let us lack their support, on the contrary: in 2022 we recorded a record number of private contributions, which added to our own revenues (i.e. non-public and excluding receipts from ticket offices, ndr) reach 44 million euros». Dominique Meyer appears calm and confident on the eve of the new opera season of the Teatro alla Scala, the third under his supervision, which opens tomorrow evening with Modest Petrovič Musorgsky’s «Boris Godunov» conducted by Riccardo Chailly. A first in the name of a return to normality, which this year will also see the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, alongside the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.
A first «sold out»?
Yes, but as often happens, at the last moment there may be some cancellations, and in case we will put the remaining tickets back on sale. The first is also an important moment in terms of revenues: the receipts from the ticket office are over 3 million euros.
Will La Scala close the balance sheet again this year?
Yes, barring nasty last-minute surprises. The forecast budget is around 130 million euros, slightly lower than the pre-Covid period, due to a precise choice: I prefer to do a few fewer plays, but increase the capacity of the hall. This year we had an attendance rate of 80%, against 74% in 2019 and in 2023 we expect to reach 83%. The public has returned, even the foreign one, which is 30% of the total, as before the pandemic. There are still Russians, Chinese and Japanese, but they have been replaced by the Americans and many Europeans. The average revenues from ticket sales per evening have also increased, from 190 thousand euros in 2019 to 210 thousand euros this year, thanks to a more effective sales policy, even if in the overall composition, revenues from tickets and subscriptions have had a lesser effect, going down from 27.4% to 22.8% of the budget.