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Work of the Week – Gustav Mahler / Yoel Gamzou: Symphonie Nr. 10
- 8 Feb 2026
Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 10 in the radical reconstruction by Yoel Gamzou. Italian premiere on Feb 13, 2026, in Milan.
Tagged with 'Milan'
Work of the Week – Richard Strauss: Die ägyptische Helena
- 4 Nov 2019
Richard Strauss’ opera Die ägyptische Helena received its world premiere in 1923 in Dresden. This year on 9 December, a new production of the opera will open at La Scala in Milan, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf.
The libretto for Strauss’ opera was created by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, with whom the composer had collaborated previously on a number of works. The libretto for the first act was completed quickly, but disagreements between the two led to delays in the work’s completion.
Richard Strauss – Die ägyptische Helena: Recollection and oblivion
The story centres around the sorceress Aithra’ discovery of the plot by Menalas, the King of Sparta, to kill his wife, Helena, over her infidelity during the Trojan War. Aithra seeks to prevent the murder by giving the couple a potion that makes them both susceptible to suggestion. She then assures Menelas that his wife was actually safe in Egypt and that, when the Trojans had initially abducted Helena, the gods had intervened and replaced her with a phantom.
There will be a total of six performances of Die ägyptische Helena in Milan during November, with the final night taking place on the 23rd. Strauss’ operas Der Rosenkavalier and Salome also receive performances during November, at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Staatsoper Berlin respectively.
Photo: Marcus Lieberenz
The libretto for Strauss’ opera was created by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, with whom the composer had collaborated previously on a number of works. The libretto for the first act was completed quickly, but disagreements between the two led to delays in the work’s completion.
Richard Strauss – Die ägyptische Helena: Recollection and oblivion
The story centres around the sorceress Aithra’ discovery of the plot by Menalas, the King of Sparta, to kill his wife, Helena, over her infidelity during the Trojan War. Aithra seeks to prevent the murder by giving the couple a potion that makes them both susceptible to suggestion. She then assures Menelas that his wife was actually safe in Egypt and that, when the Trojans had initially abducted Helena, the gods had intervened and replaced her with a phantom.
The processes of the soul by which this reconciliation had been caused are the content of Hofmannsthal’s poetry, and they offered the musician the most grateful task. Richard Strauss
There will be a total of six performances of Die ägyptische Helena in Milan during November, with the final night taking place on the 23rd. Strauss’ operas Der Rosenkavalier and Salome also receive performances during November, at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Staatsoper Berlin respectively.
Photo: Marcus Lieberenz
Work of the Week: George Gershwin – Porgy and Bess
- 15 Nov 2016
On 13 November the complete original version of George and Ira Gershwin’s classic opera Porgy and Bess will premiere at La Scala in Milan in an evening dedicated to the memory of conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who passed away earlier this year. The production is directed by his brother, Philipp Harnoncourt, and conducted by Alan Gilbert.
The original full-length version of Porgy and Bess more noticeably reveals an influence of the European avant-garde than the more frequently performed 'reduced version' of the opera. In the late 1920s, Gershwin was profoundly impacted when he met the Austrian composer Alban Berg. Gershwin referred to Porgy and Bess as ‘his Wozzeck’, referring to Berg's first opera, and while its more avant-garde passages are often cut, they can be seen to strengthen the dramatic effect of the opera.
Arguably, no other opera has produced so many hits, such as the ever popular Summertime, one of the most recorded songs of all time. Yet the calming lullaby of Summertime at the beginning of Porgy and Bess contrasts starkly with the violent reality of the opera’s setting in Catfish Row, Charleston, South Carolina. In a run-down tenement block dominated by criminals, a crippled beggar, Porgy, attempts to rescue the beautiful Bess from the clutches of her violent lover and the local drug dealer. The opera is based on the novel “Porgy” by Dubose Heyward, who also wrote the libretto.
While the world premiere in 1935 was a success, Porgy and Bess was often criticised for Gershwin's decision to cast African American singers in the main roles. A classically trained musician, Gershwin intended to write a piece that fused traditional form with other musical styles, and shows a great breadth of stylistic diversity. Classical influences, such as a fugue in the opening act, can be heard alongside jazz, ragtime and blues. Gershwin wished Porgy and Bess to be respected as a fully-formed opera, not a Broadway musical, and can therefore be regarded as an attempt to close a stylistic gap that Kurt Weill once described as:
Porgy and Bess will run at La Scala until 23 November, and a production by Sydney Opera will open in Australia on 26 November.
Photo: Lena Obst, Staatstheater Wiesbaden 2013.
The original full-length version of Porgy and Bess more noticeably reveals an influence of the European avant-garde than the more frequently performed 'reduced version' of the opera. In the late 1920s, Gershwin was profoundly impacted when he met the Austrian composer Alban Berg. Gershwin referred to Porgy and Bess as ‘his Wozzeck’, referring to Berg's first opera, and while its more avant-garde passages are often cut, they can be seen to strengthen the dramatic effect of the opera.
Gershwin's Porgy and Bess - And the livin’ is easy…?
Arguably, no other opera has produced so many hits, such as the ever popular Summertime, one of the most recorded songs of all time. Yet the calming lullaby of Summertime at the beginning of Porgy and Bess contrasts starkly with the violent reality of the opera’s setting in Catfish Row, Charleston, South Carolina. In a run-down tenement block dominated by criminals, a crippled beggar, Porgy, attempts to rescue the beautiful Bess from the clutches of her violent lover and the local drug dealer. The opera is based on the novel “Porgy” by Dubose Heyward, who also wrote the libretto.
While the world premiere in 1935 was a success, Porgy and Bess was often criticised for Gershwin's decision to cast African American singers in the main roles. A classically trained musician, Gershwin intended to write a piece that fused traditional form with other musical styles, and shows a great breadth of stylistic diversity. Classical influences, such as a fugue in the opening act, can be heard alongside jazz, ragtime and blues. Gershwin wished Porgy and Bess to be respected as a fully-formed opera, not a Broadway musical, and can therefore be regarded as an attempt to close a stylistic gap that Kurt Weill once described as:
“Metropolitan: the worst example of old fashioned opera on the one side, and musical comedy which tries to be sophisticated and low brow at the same time on the other side. Nothing in between.”
Porgy and Bess will run at La Scala until 23 November, and a production by Sydney Opera will open in Australia on 26 November.
Photo: Lena Obst, Staatstheater Wiesbaden 2013.
