Culture and finance

Giorgia Meloni at La Scala in Milan for a concert organised by the Asian development bank

An event also organised with the support of the Bank of Italy and the Ministry of Economy and Finance

4 May 2025[Aggiornato il 4 maggio 2025, ore 20:20]

La presidente del Consiglio, Giorgia Meloni, con il ministro dell'Economia Giancarlo Giorgetti al Teatro alla Scala di Milano ANSA/ANDREA FASANI

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Key points

Pieces by Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni will be performed.

2' min read

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived at La Scala Theatre in Milan to attend a concert organised by the Asian development bank (Adb) and the Mef.

The Asian development bank is holding its annual meeting - now in its 58th year - in Milan for the first time, an event also organised with the support of the Bank of Italy and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Already in the afternoon, before the arrival of the premier and the guests of the event, the area of Piazza Scala was armoured. There was a massive deployment of police forces, with barriers blocking access to the square from any point.

Meloni, in a black suit and close-cropped hair, sits in the royal box with, on one side, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti and, on the other, Adb president Masato Kanda.

Alongside them, also the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala and the governor of the Bank of Italy Fabio Panetta.

This is the first time the premier returns to La Scala since the opening of the opera season on 7 December 2022 with Mussorgsky's Boris Gudonov, when she shared the royal box with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Pieces by Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni will be performed

Pieces by Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni will be performed at La Scala theatre. The Adb's annual meeting is scheduled at the Allianz Mico in Milan from 4 to 7 May. The conductor of the theatre orchestra is Maestro Michele Gamba.

Performing before Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will be soprano Mariangela Sicilia and tenor Matteo Lippi.

The pieces by Giuseppe Verdi are from Nabucco and La forza del destino, the opera that opened the La Scala season last 7 December. Also on the programme are excerpts from Madama Butterfly, Turandot and La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini and Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni. Michele Gamba, 41, is one of the most important Italian conductors of the new generation.

At La Scala, where he made his debut nine years ago, he conducted some of the most important new productions of recent years including Cherubini's Médée under the direction of Damiano Michieletto, Verdi's Rigoletto under the direction of Mario Martone and the Puccini centenary Turandot under the direction of Davide Livermore and Anna Netrebko in the lead role. Soprano Mariangela Sicilia and tenor Matteo Lippi also participated in Puccini's centenary by performing La rondine under the baton of music director Riccardo Chailly.

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