MILAN, ITALY — Amid a climate of uncertainty that has brought large swathes of the creative world to a standstill, roars of approval offer a welcome respite in a city with as many rich historical and artistic entanglements as Milan — not least at La Scala.
And that is precisely why, following Riccardo Chailly’s calling card for the conducting of Verdi’s Requiem, the theatre’s ensemble — renowned for its dramatic and disciplined performances — delivered a mighty rendition of the score, albeit with a few missteps along the way.
REQUIEM VERDI ph Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala
After the mixed reviews — to put it kindly — of the work presented over the past week, there was hope that this Requiem would restore some of the rigour and calm that had been lost amid La Traviata’s histrionics. Chailly conducted the ensemble with a searing intensity across two performances. Visible in the orchestra pit, he commanded the audience’s attention, reminding everyone of the magnetic visual presence he brings to the podium. Nobody dared blow their nose during the opening pianissimo.
It was a pity, however, that the brass and drums in the Dies Irae, positioned at one end of La Scala’s pit, sounded ominously close to the audience yet somewhat detached from the rest of the orchestra, when they should have formed part of a terrific union of sound. The hellfire choruses were deeply impassioned, although the discipline evident at the beginning — singers opening their music in perfect synchronicity — did not always carry through to the performance, nor did the soloists maintain complete control. There were several moments of ragged ensemble.
Yet, when it truly mattered, the precision was there: in the rhythmic, imitative phrases of the Sanctus and in the wild fugue of the Libera me. In this final movement especially, the luxury of an entire section of pure contraltos gave the chorus a sonority that ensembles outside Italy rarely possess.
Anna Netrebko’s ringing, sustained voice is certainly appealing, but it need not always be pushed so hard. Indeed, when she made the slightest effort simply to sing beautifully, she succeeded magnificently.
That sense of artistic success finds a fitting continuation in the new exhibition in the theatre’s upper foyer, dedicated to the late dance phenomenon Pina Bausch and her celebrated work, Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring).
Le Sacre du printemps di PIna Bausch – prove in sala ph Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scal
From November 7 to 21 2026, the production that brings the current ballet season to a close brings together two of the greatest milestones in dance history. Alongside the return of George Balanchine’s Apollo, November 7 marks La Scala’s debut performance of Pina Bausch’s Le Sacre du printemps.
Bausch had previously been associated with La Scala only once, in 1983, when she brought her Tanztheater Wuppertal production of Kontakthof to the theatre. This year, however, marks the first time in La Scala’s history that its dance company has engaged with Bausch’s artistic language through one of her most powerful and timeless works.
It is a memorable occasion for both the company and its audience, preserving, conveying and absorbing the artistic power of a production that must be experienced live and which, more than fifty years after its creation, continues to make a powerful impact on stages around the world.
To mark the occasion, a photographic exhibition dedicated to Bausch’s work introduces the public to the creative process behind the production and runs until November 22.
“She was looking for movement, for a form and for a group formation,” Ismaël Dia, Archive Director at the Pina Bausch Foundation, told GLASS at the exhibition’s press preview. “So you can see it there, and it’s really interesting because, in many of the photographs, Pina is demonstrating the movement. It comes from her — she showed a great deal of it herself — and you can see her vocabulary in those shots.”
Bausch’s son, Salomon, speaks with unguarded honesty about the work of his mother’s foundation, which was established after her death in 2009.
“We try to figure it out every day, and all we can do is just try,” he tells GLASS. “But I think having these pieces on stage is really key. Many of the dancers who worked with Pina have since left, and now there’s a whole new generation, but it’s also a changing company.
“And this work with other companies is very interesting because it’s always a new encounter, and it’s a very beautiful way to create a connection between these companies and Pina’s work,” he says.
The foundation has also been exploring other ways of producing the work.
“In the beginning, we worked with existing companies, like La Scala, but we’ve also started to think differently. Nowadays, the way of working on The Rite of Spring is, I think, a really new approach for La Scala,” he says.
“For example, for the production with Sadler’s Wells, we didn’t have an ensemble for it; rather, we created an ensemble specifically for the production. We had this co-production with École des Sables in Senegal and Sadler’s Wells, and we held auditions in different African countries.
“We had dancers from fourteen African countries, with a wide variety of backgrounds — traditional and contemporary African dance, but also hip-hop and urban dance. It was a very diverse company, different from a traditionally trained ballet company, but they all brought their own particular dance backgrounds.
“This was very interesting: to work with and create a production with a group that hadn’t existed before. In this way, everybody was coming together for that particular reason. They weren’t simply there because they belonged to the company; they were there for that reason. They were chosen for their very specific qualities for the piece, and it became a very beautiful production that we toured all over the world,” he concludes.
On the joys and remarkable aftermath of working on both productions, La Scala’s Director of Dance, Frédéric Olivieri, speaks with palpable excitement.
“Both pieces have many important points of reference: choreography, ballet and interpretation,” he told reporters ahead of the 7 November premiere, adding that “with the music of Stravinsky, combining these three elements creates an unusual and ideal balance. It allows for a wealth of interpretations and visual language.
“I’m simply happy that this union between Stravinsky, Balanchine and Bausch is being brought to the theatre, to the audience and to the company.”
Apollo Chor George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust- Roberto Bolle Nicoletta Manni Martina Arduino Virna Toppi ph Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala
Roberto Bolle, La Scala’s Étoile, who will take on the role of Apollo, concurs.
“It was one of my first roles as a dancer, and it’s a role that has accompanied me throughout my career since 1996,” Bolle told reporters at the press conference. “Every time it was performed at La Scala, I had the opportunity to experience it, and I have to say that I grew up with it.
“You don’t often have the opportunity to play such a completely different role when you are young, so at the time it was a real discovery, despite my lack of experience. Now, however, I approach it with a completely different maturity.”
For Bolle, there is something particularly special about revisiting Apollo and its sense of evolution.
“So it’s nice that there is, in this case, the birth of Apollo — a version that is not often performed,” he says. “It gives the idea of an evolution, from the beginning, with a mother giving birth, through the discovery of the gift of music and the opportunity to grow and mature through the different phases of becoming Apollo.
“It’s a wonderful role, and one that was created almost a hundred years ago.”
For Bolle, it is also always a pleasure to rediscover the work with a familiar cast.
“I’m happy to do it with my cast: Martina, Nicoletta and the others,” he shares. “We have already danced together a couple of times, including during Milan Design Week. Being together once again feels like a beautiful opportunity to pay a special tribute to Stravinsky.”
Nicoletta Manni, who will perform the role of Terpsichore, is equally delighted to return to the ballet alongside the cast with whom she first performed it several years ago.
“It’s really a pleasure to share this work with this cast because you can feel all the new elements that we’ve experienced,” Manni reflects. “It gives us the freedom to explore this iconic ballet even further, because it is perhaps one of the most iconic ballets created by Balanchine.
“For me, it’s one of those works that, as a child, I saw in dance books. It is a style that requires musicality, maturity and a great deal of precision in its simplicity, while still allowing freedom of expression. And I must say, the only thing we have to do is dance, have fun and enjoy this piece in its purity.”
Apollo Chor George Balanchine© The George Balanchine Trust- Roberto Bolle – ph Brescia e Amisano Teatro alla Scala
Moving back into operatic territory, Daniele Rustioni returns to the La Scala podium for an opera production after an absence of more than ten years. In the meantime, he has built a career on some of the world’s leading international stages, becoming Emeritus Conductor of the Orchestra della Toscana in 2023. From 2017 to 2025, he served as Principal Conductor of the Opéra National de Lyon, and since 2025 he has been Principal Guest Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
He returns to La Scala with a new artistic maturity and the same energy that characterised his early years in Milan.
FAUST © Miguel Lorenzo-Mikel Ponce- Les Arts
In Faust, Rustioni seeks the fluidity of the vocal lines, the brilliance of the early acts and the gradually deepening darkness of the drama: from the light-heartedness of the festival and the waltz to the chamber-music-like atmosphere of the garden, and finally to the tension of the church scene and the final apotheosis.
Gounod focuses the Faustian myth on Marguerite’s emotional journey, positioning her as the true protagonist of the drama. The vocal writing ranges from the dreamy grace of the Song of the King of Thule to the virtuosic sparkle of the Aria of the Jewels, from the ethereal sensuality of the garden duet to the despair of the church and prison scenes.
Around her, Faust oscillates between romantic passion and a lust for possession, while Méphistophélès weaves through the score with sparkling, insinuating music — a lightness that makes the character all the more unsettling.
The production’s direction rejects realism and instead constructs a universe in constant motion, where nothing is absolute and every element carries its own dichotomy: heaven and hell, faith and desire, attraction and ruin.
by Chidozie Obasi