La Scala premiere

Culture and customs

Guests, flowers, dinner: anticipation grows for La Scala premiere

Everything is ready for Šostakovič's 'Lady Macbeth'. Segre and Giuli among the personalities attending the performance on 7 December

by R.I.T.

6 December 2025

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

There will not be the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, nor the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, tomorrow evening at La Scala to attend the premiere of 'A Lady Macbeth in the District of Mcensk', the opera by Dmitrij Šostakovič that will inaugurate the 2025-2026 opera season of the Milanese theatre. But the parterre of institutional dignitaries and protagonists from the worlds of culture, entertainment and sport who will attend the traditional evening on 7 December will be substantial.

Politics and Culture in the Hall

In the Royal Box, next to the hosts (the mayor Giuseppe Sala, president of the Opera Foundation, and the superintendent Fortunato Ortombina) will sit the life senator Liliana Segre, for the third consecutive year in the seat traditionally held by President Sergio Mattarella. Together with them, the President of the Constitutional Court, Giovanni Amoroso, and then the US Secretary of State, Sara Rogers, the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, and the Vice-Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Gian Marco Centinaio and Anna Ascani (the President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, is absent).

Among the names in show business who will attend the inaugural performance are singers Mahmood and Achille Lauro and actor Pierfrancesco Favino. Milan's cultural institutions will include the Grande Brera, with Angelo Crespi, the Triennale with Stefano Boeri, the Società del Quartetto with Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, the Salone del Mobile with Maria Porro, and the Camera della Moda with Carlo Capasa. There will be many presences from the world of theatre, including the superintendents of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Munich Opera, the Hamburg Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Teatro Real in Madrid Joan Matabosch, the Monnaie in Brussels, and the Muscat Opera.

And then the Italians: Agis President Francesco Giambrone and the President-Superintendent of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Massimo Biscardi. In addition, director Damiano Michieletto, set designer Margherita Palli, Piccolo Teatro directors Claudio Longhi and Lanfranco Li Cauli, Franco Parenti Theatre president Andrée Ruth Shammah and AsLiCo director Barbara Minghetti.

As every year, together with Corps de Ballet director Frédéric Olivieri and étoile Nicoletta Manni, the La Scala principal dancers - Timofej Andrijashenko, Antonella Albano, Martina Arduino, Marco Agostino, Claudio Coviello, Nicola Del Freo, Alice Mariani, Virna Toppi and Antonino Sutera - will be in the full house.

The Oldani gala dinner

The gala dinner will be signed by the two Michelin-starred chef Davide Oldani: after the show, 500 guests will be welcomed into the historic Società del Giardino for the most exclusive Milanese social event of the year. The menu has been designed by the Milanese chef to narrate Milan through his cuisine. It opens with Artisia - "spaghetto" and cauliflower cream, a dish that celebrates the simplicity and elegance of the raw material, followed by the pumpkin velouté with toasted seeds, coffee powder and balsamic syrup, where sweetness and light bitter notes come together in a surprising balance. The lukewarm cod set with dried sultanas offers a harmonious meeting of textures and aromas, while the cappelletti with hazelnut butter and sage herb scent pay homage to fresh Italian pasta, with the delicacy of a touch of herbs. The main course, veal Rustin Negàa with spinach and fig in raisin wine, combines the softness of the meat with the sweetness of the fig, creating a sophisticated and enveloping play of contrasts. To close the dinner, a chocolate, almond and orange sauce dessert, combining intensity and freshness in a mouth-watering and refined finale. Each dish is accompanied by a selection of excellent wines.

Live coverage on RAI and abroad

As always, RAI will broadcast the live premiere, starting at 5.45 p.m. on Rai 1 Radio3. Ten high-definition cameras will be used, 45 microphones in the orchestra pit and on stage, 15 radio microphones dedicated to the soloists, for a working group of 50 people including cameramen, microphone operators, audio and video technicians. A preparation that sees the directing staff follow the staging of the performance - conducted by maestro Riccardo Chailly, directed by Vasily Barkhatov - right from the first rehearsals, and an increasing number of staff working in the two weeks preceding the debut.

As in previous years, the filming, with television direction by Arnalda Canali, will be in 4K: it will therefore have a definition four times higher than the usual television standards. The opera will also be broadcast live on Rai Radio3, on Rai 1 HD channel 501, on Rai4K, on channel 210 of Tivùsat, the free satellite TV visible throughout Italy, and on RaiPlay, where it can be seen for 15 days after the premiere. More than three hours of broadcasting, complete with subtitles, to bring Šostakóvič's masterpiece into the homes of Italians, because great music belongs to everyone.

They will make use of the high-definition footage broadcast by RAI around 40 venues involved in the 'Prima Diffusa' social initiative of the Municipality of Milan and the big screen placed at the centre of the Ottagono in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which offers Prima to citizens.

There are also numerous broadcasters from all continents who will broadcast the event live from Milan thanks to agreements signed with Rai Com, from France to Japan, from Latin America to Australia and New Zealand.

Backstage, the Prima machine

Away from the spotlight is the work of hundreds of craftsmen and professionals who, every year, make the magic of the La Scala premiere possible. These include the make-up and hairstyling department led by Tiziana Libardo, who created around 30 wigs this year, and the costume department, which created almost 300 outfits for the staging. And then the work of the Genoese Federica Borghi of the Carbognin team, a former Florentine florist who has become responsible for the floral architecture decorating the royal stage.