La Scala Museum, June 13, 2025

On Friday, June 13, 2025, we left the Last Supper and visited the La Scala museum. The area around the theatre is active and busy; people scurrying in all directions. Also, the theatre is undergoing some restoration projects. Here is a view from across the street.

La Scala opened on August 3, 1778 with a performance of Antonio Salieri’s opera L’Europa riconosciuta. The theater has hosted premieres of works by composers such as Verdi, Puccini, and Rossini, cementing its place in operatic history. Its attached museum displays costumes, musical instruments, and portraits that celebrate Italy’s rich operatic tradition. While JoAnn and I would have enjoyed experiencing a performance at this amazing place, we had to content ourselves with a visit to the museum and a glimpse of the stage.

Here is another photo of this famous place, an oil painting of a 19th century view of the opera house as it appeared at that time.

We started with a visit to the Ridotto dei Palchi “Arturo Toscanini”, also known simply as the Ridotto Room. It is a grand foyer and reception hall, historically used as a gathering space for guests attending performances. It is simply elegant and inviting. Here is a photo of JoAnn enjoying the space and awaiting our chance to sneak a glance at the theatre.

Here is a grander photo of the Ridotto Room.

The reception hall is filled with a number of beautiful, black and white, photographs of the ballet. I wish I had taken them and could claim them as my own, but, alas I can’t. In any event, enjoy them as I did.

Then we stole a glance of the auditorium and the luxurious boxes that surround it.

Gathered on stage, I presume, is the cast for the current show.

Then we took a brief tour of the museum. It is a series of rooms in a tight space which felt crowded, even with our small group. I managed a couple of shots which I now share with you. Let’s start with a bust of Giuseppe Verdi.

Verdi wasn’t just a composer for La Scala — he embodied the spirit of the theater, bringing musical brilliance, political meaning, and enduring legacy to Italy’s most famous stage.

And, a photo of the Steinway piano which was played by Franz Liszt.

This piece is lovely with its painted lid; a really beautiful instrument.

Let’s end our visit with this photo of Pantalone on the left, a wealthy, miserly old Venetian merchant and Arlecchino on the right, a clever and nimble servant, known for his acrobatics and trickery.

Outside La Scala is this statue of Leonardo da Vinci and thus ends our visit.