A fire destroyed the previous theatre, the
Teatro Regio Ducale, on 25 February 1776, after a
carnival gala. A group of ninety wealthy Milanese, who owned private boxes in the theatre, wrote to
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este asking for a new theatre and a provisional one to be used while completing the new one. The
neoclassical architect
Giuseppe Piermarini produced an initial design. However, it was rejected by Count Firmian (the governor of the then Austrian
Lombardy). A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress
Maria Theresa. The new theatre was built on the former location of the church of
Santa Maria della Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished. Over a period of two years, the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti, and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. The theatre had a total of "3,000 or so" seats organized into 678 pit-stalls, arranged in six tiers of boxes above which is the 'loggione' or two galleries. Its stage is one of the largest in Italy (16.15m d x 20.4m w x 26m h). Building expenses were covered by the sale of boxes, which were lavishly decorated by their owners, impressing observers such as
Stendhal. La Scala (as it came to be known) soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people. In the tradition of the times, the main floor had no chairs, and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in full sight, as the orchestra pit had not yet been built. As with most of the theatres at that time, La Scala was also a
casino, with gamblers sitting in the foyer. Conditions in the auditorium, too, could be frustrating for the opera lover, as
Mary Shelley discovered in September 1840: At the Opera they were giving
Otto Nicolai's
Templario. Unfortunately, as is well known, the theatre of La Scala serves, not only as the universal drawing-room for all the society of Milan but every sort of trading transaction, from horse-dealing to
stock-jobbing, is carried on in the pit; so that brief and far between are the snatches of melody one can catch. La Scala was originally illuminated with 84 oil lamps mounted on the stage and another thousand in the rest of the theatre. To reduce the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets. In time, oil lamps were replaced by gas lamps; these, in turn, were replaced by electric lights in 1883. The original structure was renovated in 1907 when it was given its current layout with 1,987 seats. In 1943, during
World War II, La Scala was severely damaged by
bombing. It was rebuilt and reopened on 11 May 1946, with a memorable concert conducted by
Arturo Toscanini—twice La Scala's principal conductor and an associate of the composers
Giuseppe Verdi and
Giacomo Puccini—with a soprano solo by
Renata Tebaldi, which created a sensation. La Scala hosted the first productions of many famous operas and had a special relationship with Verdi. However, for several years, Verdi did not allow his work to be played here, as some of his music had been modified (he said "corrupted") by the orchestra. This dispute originated in a disagreement over the production of his ''
Giovanna d'Arco in 1845; however, the composer later conducted his Requiem there on 25 May 1874. He announced in 1886 that La Scala would host the premiere of what was to become his penultimate opera, Otello. The premiere of his last opera, Falstaff'' was also given in the theatre.
Filarmonica della Scala In 1982, the Filarmonica della Scala orchestra was established to develop a symphonic repertoire to add to La Scala's operatic tradition, the orchestra drawing its members from the larger pool of musicians that comprise the Orchestra della Scala. The Filarmonica was conducted first by
Carlo Maria Giulini, then by
Riccardo Muti, plus many collaborative relations with some of the greatest conductors of the time. ==Recent developments==