THROUGHOUT her career, Carla Fracci had proven that she was a stellar artist. As a performer who took stages by storm and played all manner of roles within the classic repertoire, she had a technical and artistic prowess that exuded steely control, poised musical phrasing and a lustrous classical line, projecting every nuance of her characters’ emotions to the furthest reaches of any auditorium.
Since her passing in May 2021, La Scala’s tribute—“Gala Fracci”—reminds us of the phenomenal impact that she made.
Carla Fracci. Photograph: Lelli e Masotti
Newly appointed Director of Ballet, Frédéric Olivieri, who’s already staged a wealth of successful galas in previous times, is continuing the tradition established in 2022 by Manuel Legris to celebrate dance and ballet in honour of Carla Fracci.
For the 2025 edition, Olivieri has chosen to focus the programme on pieces that refer directly to roles created for Carla Fracci or that her interpretation made timeless, which will be brought back to life by the protagonists of this edition: the Corps de Ballet, the Principal Dancers, the Soloists, and international guests Marianela Nuñez and Reece Clarke, Principals of the Royal Ballet. Romina Contreras, a dancer with the Czech National Ballet in Prague, will debut.
La Scala’s orchestra will be conducted by Valery Ovsyanikov and the programme will also feature the students of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala Ballet School of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in the opening parade and the final scene of Excelsior.
The repertoire will be celebrated with Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty with Marianela Nuñez in the Adagio of the Rose from the first act; Nureyev’s Don Quixote in the sparkling and virtuosic grand pas de deux from the third act with Alice Mariani and Nicola Del Freo, with the damsel of honour Maria Celeste Losa and the artists of the corps de ballet, and with the lyrical pas de deux from the second act of Giselle, with Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino, in memory of Carla Fracci’s extraordinary last appearance at La Scala and her masterclasses, a symbolic passing of the baton to the new generation of dancers from its most unforgettable interpreter.
Romina Contreras and Claudio Coviello. Photograph: Serghei Gherciu April 2025
The first part will close with Ronald Hynd’s sparkling The Merry Widow, who was a guest in La Scala’s ballrooms to follow the rehearsals of the soloists and the corps de ballet in the cancan and Pas de quatre, while the final Pas de deux will feature Marianela Nuñez and Reece Clarke in the roles of Hanna Glawari and Danilo.
The second part will open with John Cranko, the great master of the 20th century, with his masterpieces. First and foremost, Onegin, in the poignant final Pas de deux with Nicoletta Manni, named étoile at the end of this ballet, and Reece Clarke; a new opportunity to dance together after their successful partnership in L’histoire de Manon, with a piece rehearsed in the Stuttgart Ballet studios under the supervision of Reid Anderson. But there’s more to the story.
Below, four Principals of La Scala weigh in on what this Gala means to them:
Romeo and Juliet by MacMillan starring Claudio Coviello. Photograph: Brescia e Amisano
Claudio Coviello, Principal Dancer, Teatro alla Scala
“This edition of the Gala Fracci will be my very first time, where I’ll be dancing the Balcony Pas de deux in the version of John Cranco. I have always danced this ballet in the version of MacMillan, so for me it means exploring and discovering even more the character of Romeo under another choreography. Romeo and Juliet is one of my favourite ballets, so it is very stimulating to be able to interpret it in another version.
For the first time, I will dance next to Romina Conteras, a beautiful dancer of the National Ballet of Prague, a very natural and sensitive artist. It was nice to work next to her and to have the opportunity to discover another artist and another Juliet for me.
So I am very excited to dance in this beautiful evening, which has now become very important for the theatre’s repertoire, because it is an evening that pays homage to the greatest and absolute Italian ballerina of the entire international panorama. It is always a very exciting evening for us artists and for the public, so I can’t wait to be on the stage.”
Alice Mariani and Nicola Del Freo. Photograph: Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala
Alice Mariani, Principal Dancer, Teatro alla Scala
“I’ll play Kitri in Don Quixote’s third act, in the version of Nureyev, with Nicola Del Freo. It’s a ballet that certainly has a special place in my heart because it marks my return here at the Teatro alla Scala. It was the first show I did coming back here. It’s a very difficult, very technical piece: we did a great job with Maestro Murru by starting from scratch, also because it was four years that we haven’t performed it. There are great technical difficulties and step by step, every day, we took a step forward until we got to our best. We did our best and we hope to bring a nice show in honour of Carla.
I think that dedicating an evening here at the Teatro alla Scala to this lady is really a very important thing. She will always be with us. She has always been present for the world of dance and she will always be. An icon for everyone. I think that her beauty on stage is insurmountable. Every time I watch her videos, it seems almost impossible for her to seem so simple. She does good to the world, to our audience. I will always remember her, because she will always have a very important place in the history of dance.”
Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino. Photograph: Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala
Martina Arduino, Principal Dancer, Teatro alla Scala
“For us, the Gala Fracci is always a moment of great emotion and happiness because, in addition to paying tribute to an icon of dance who left an indelible mark on our history, it is a unique and special evening to celebrate our art, dance.
I will have the honour of performing the role of Giselle in the Pas de deux from the second act, and it is a role that I am very fond of and particularly attached to because I had the good fortune to work with Ms Fracci shortly before her passing.
It was a gift for me: Ms Fracci gave me her teachings and passed on her love for this role with all her passion. She taught me attention to detail and, above all, how important it is to have the intention of each step in mind to express a feeling and make it true and believable for the audience. For this evening, reprising the role of Giselle was an opportunity to relive the experience of working with her. I focused on the quality of my arms and the lightness of the steps to give the impression of being a spirit and create a magical atmosphere, even though it is an excerpt and there is not the entire ballet set.
For me, for the whole company and the whole world of dance, Ms Fracci has left a great legacy for which we are very honoured and grateful, and for this reason we feel the need to pay tribute to her with this wonderful gala evening.”
Martina Arduino and Marco Agostino. Photograph: Brescia e Amisano © Teatro alla Scala
Marco Agostino, Principal Dancer, Teatro alla Scala
“In this year’s Fracci Gala, I will be performing the role of Albrecht in the Pas de deux from the second act of Giselle. This role is one of the most iconic in the ballet repertoire. It has been performed by great artists such as Nureyev, Vasiliev and Bruhn, right up to the greats of today and of our theatre, such as Massimo Murru and Roberto Bolle.
To prepare myself as best I can, I have tried to draw inspiration from them to create that ethereal atmosphere of suffering, love, redemption and suspension that characterises the Pas de deux, having the good fortune to draw on some of them in the theatre, such as Massimo Murru. The ballet Giselle was one of the most famous performed by Carla Fracci, so it is an honour for me to be able to perform this masterpiece.
The Fracci Gala is of absolute and fundamental importance: our present, our heritage and our history are based on the deeds of the greats of the past. Nevertheless, in order to look to the future with innovation and creativity, we need even more strong foundations and traditions to cultivate, such as the Gala Fracci (the two things, innovation and tradition, are not antithetical but complementary).
I believe that honouring the greats of the past creates an important culture in our theatre, makes us feel part of something unique, makes us proud and pushes us to strive to be better and better in order to make the history of our theatre even more alive and important.”
by Chidozie Obasi