European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                La Scala audience puts on a grand show italian state tourist office another season has begun at la Scala in Milan Italy amid great fanfare a Little bit of controversy and a new optimism about opera s  Alan Cowell the new York times there were the King of Sweden and the president of Italy authors and artists and critics under the chandeliers. There were glitter and diamonds Mink and paparazzi and somewhere Between them All the music. And on the opening night of la Scala Italy s Premier opera Sandra Monica and Elena came too sprinkled pamphlets bared their breasts and shouted Quot better nude than wearing furs Quot thus with All its various rituals a some old some new and none too far removed from Milan s preoccupation with Money and show a did the opera season begin last month in the Northern italian City that sets an artistic Standard for the world s opera lovers. And at $850 a seat for opening night it takes the measure of just who is who on the City s social Register. Quot it s half about opera half about just being there Quot said Sabino Lenoci editor of l opera a monthly Magazine devoted to the Art form practice with such virtuosity at the opening by Riccardo Muti the conductor and Placido Domingo in the title role of Wagner s parsifal a five hours of Symbol and music interspersed with Champagne and photo Calls at intermissions. Anti fur protesters provided late-20lh-Century counterpoint to Wagner s vision of death. They tossed leaflets with lurid photos of dead and caged furry animals at women in sleek and Glossy furry Coats just before the opera began with a first act that revolves around parsifal s slaying of a Swan. The debate Over the fur Trade is relatively new in Italy. Wearing fur has none of the stigma attached to it in the United states and is de Rigueur among those in this City who quickly Rose to wealth. Quot it was cold tonight so the women came in their furs a said a longtime opera devotee As the temperatures tumbled below freezing. Quot but even if it were 90 degrees they d still Wear fur at the opening  the fabled occasion which starts with opera and ends with a Midnight supper of shrimp and risotto and More Champagne is not altogether typical of Italy s Long running love affair with opera something deeply entwined with the nation s sense of itself As a land of song and passion. Quot la Scala is the big event not Only in Italy but also in Europe Quot Muti said. But the opening Quot is a Little bit  Quot it s a big event socially Quot he emphasized. Such is the pressure for seats that the ticket touts offer first night seats at up to $5,000 to a people that Pride themselves on ready Access to an operatic heritage. Quot most italians know some opera Quot Lenoci said. Quot every italian knows the famous Arias. Verdi and Puccini and All the others were born in Italy and we studied them at  yet there had been worries that the Art form was headed for extinction among All but a few. What has happened has defied those forecasts. Quot there s a Renaissance at the opera Quot Lenoci said. Cesare Mazzoni artistic director at la Scala recalled Quot Twenty years ago everyone thought the opera was the sort of entertainment for old people and it was finished. But it s happened the other Way. It s still a Middle aged audience but you have Young people. It was supposed that Young people would disappear from the opera. Then something happened and the situation  that Quot something Quot May be partly a result of opera houses seeking a younger audience. In Bari in the South for instance the opera recently staged a version of Hansel and Crete for a Young audience. But others detect a wider change reflecting a shift in italian society. In an interview before an opening night performance that won High critical acclaim Muti said italians had moved away from a vision of opera entered on their own operatic giants and on to a broader sense of the Art. Even in Parma which regards itself As Verdi s Hometown opera lovers recently awarded their highest prize to a performance of a Mozart opera. Quot that s a very interesting sign of How things change Quot Muti said. Quot the cultural level of the nation is going up very rapidly. People in Italy read More Are More interested generally in culture and this is the result of the general cultural level going  but change has brought other portents that trouble purists like those who flock to la Scala braving chills in non fur Coats to obtain the standing room Only tickets for the highest galleries that Are sold on the Day of the performance. This year for instance the Tenor Liu inno Pavarotti staged two open air concerts a one in Hyde Park in London another in the ruins of the ancient Caracalla Baths of Rome. He also performed with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras and in the process stirred much passion in Italy not All of it flattering. Quot there s this fear Quot said Lenoci that singers will be lured away by the High fees and other income generated by concerts recorded and resold on cassettes and compact disks and that Italy s own stars will therefore stay away from their operatic Home base. But what has troubled opera lovers More several experts said in interviews was that the concerts might popularize the most famous Arias of opera but not opera itself. Quot it is another sort of phenomenon Quot said Mazzoni la Scala s artistic director Quot it has nothing to do with opera itself. It is the phenomenon of the  Quot when the singers do this sort of thing they earn such an amount of Money that even the highest fees in the theater seem ridiculous Quot he said. Some assess the danger differently. Quot i absolutely disagree that events like Caracalla will have an Impact on the popularity of opera in Italy Quot Muti said. Quot the danger is that having an evening where you have Only the highlights of opera the Public can get  stars singing in open air concerts he said Quot get tremendous popularity throughout the  Quot but then if they want to get Back again to the dignity of a real artist then they have to go to important Heaters and again follow the Normal procedures of serious and Long  24 stripes Magazine january 23, 1992 a