Russian Opera ‘Boris Godunov’ to Open Next La Scala Season

From left, La Scala director Riccardo Chailly, Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala, La Scala general manager Dominique Meyer and La Scala ballet director Manuel Legris attend at a press conference to present the 2022/2023 season, at the Milan La Scala opera house, Italy, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)
From left, La Scala director Riccardo Chailly, Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala, La Scala general manager Dominique Meyer and La Scala ballet director Manuel Legris attend at a press conference to present the 2022/2023 season, at the Milan La Scala opera house, Italy, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)
TT
20

Russian Opera ‘Boris Godunov’ to Open Next La Scala Season

From left, La Scala director Riccardo Chailly, Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala, La Scala general manager Dominique Meyer and La Scala ballet director Manuel Legris attend at a press conference to present the 2022/2023 season, at the Milan La Scala opera house, Italy, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)
From left, La Scala director Riccardo Chailly, Milan's mayor Giuseppe Sala, La Scala general manager Dominique Meyer and La Scala ballet director Manuel Legris attend at a press conference to present the 2022/2023 season, at the Milan La Scala opera house, Italy, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)

Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala on Monday announced the celebration of next season's gala premiere with the Russian opera "Boris Godunov,'' in a move the opera house hopes will underline the separation of culture from politics.

La Scala's 2022-23 calendar, set long before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, also marks the Milan opera house's premiere of another Russian opera, Antonín Dvořák's "Rusalka,” and includes a host of Russian stars singing roles in the Russian composition as well as other titles.

"We hope that we will have a St. Ambrose (feast day) that will also celebrate peace," said Mayor Giuseppe Sala, who is president of La Scala’s board, calling the opera by Modest Mussorgsky "a masterpiece." He referred to the Dec. 7 feast day for Milan’s patron saint when La Scala holds its gala season opener each year, one of the most anticipated events of the European cultural calendar.

General Manager Dominique Meyer emphasized that choices were made two to three years ago, in keeping with opera world's practice of drafting calendars and booking stars years in advance.

The announcement of an unusually heavy Russian calendar comes months after La Scala became one of the first opera houses to exclude Russian conductor Valery Gergiev after he failed to respond to their appeal to denounce the war.

Opera house management was quick to separate Gergiev from other Russian artists who will be performing in Milan, noting his position as the general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg puts him close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We considered him like a politician. The others, no. He is almost culture minister. It is another case," Meyer said.

"Boris Godunov," which the La Scala program calls "a disturbing fresco on the brutality and solitude of power," opened the 1979-80 season, conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov, who sang in last year’s season premiere, will sing the title role in "Boris Godunov," while Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak headlines "Rusalka."

Chief conductor and musical director Riccardo Chailly, who assisted Abbado’s 1979 premiere of "Boris Godunov," said he has long been pushing for more Russian music on La Scala’s calendar, historically heavy on the Italian repertoire as the premier opera house in the birthplace of lyric theater. Giuseppe Verdi is by far the composer most represented on the Dec. 7 gala season opener.

"It would be serious to penalize the artistic aspect for the tragedy that we are all aware is happening in Ukraine," Chailly said. "It seems to me necessary, in light of what we are living unfortunately for more than 90 days, (to say) that great music can live independently, as it should be.

"It is important to distinguish the two things. Give merit to those who deserve it and to bring back to life masterpieces completely independently of events."

The 14 operas on the calendar also include "Lucia di Lammermoor," starring American soprano Lisette Oropesa in the title role opposite Juan Diego Flórez. The Donizetti opera was supposed to open the 2020-21 season, but was delayed because of pandemic restrictions.

La Scala is also reprising Umberto Giordano’s "Andrea Chénier," which opened the 2017-18 season, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the late stage and film director Franco Zeffirelli's birth with his staging of "La Boheme," and premiering Leonardo Vinci’s Neapolitan opera "Li Zite ’Ngalera" as part of a project to relaunch Italian baroque opera.

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, who performed to rave reviews last week at La Scala, will sing four dates of Verdi’s Macbeth, alternating with Belarusian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk.

The ballet season opens with Rudolf Nureyev's choreography for "The Nutcracker," marking the 30 anniversary of the Russian dancer's death. The program, which includes both classics and contemporary choreographies, contains another homage to Nureyev, with his choreography to Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."



New Spielberg, Nolan Films Teased at CinemaCon

US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
TT
20

New Spielberg, Nolan Films Teased at CinemaCon

US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP
US actress Scarlett Johansson presents the film 'Jurassic World Rebirth' onstage during CinemaCon. VALERIE MACON / AFP

Hollywood studio Universal Pictures on Wednesday teased new movies from Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan, while showcasing footage from its upcoming sequels "Jurassic World Rebirth" and "Wicked: For Good" at the CinemaCon event.

Spielberg "is currently shooting a film that promises to be a return to form, in the spirit of his monumental classics," said Universal executive Jim Orr, at the movie theater industry summit in Las Vegas.

The untitled film, out June 2026, is widely rumored to be a blockbuster sci-fi. Orr promised it would contain "a propulsive, modern, out-of-this-world twist," without sharing further details.

Meanwhile, Nolan is in the Mediterranean shooting his star-studded version of "The Odyssey," based on the millennia-old Ancient Greek epic saga written by Homer.

It is due July 2026, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Zendaya and Anne Hathaway, AFP said.

In a prediction bold even by the standards of Hollywood marketing, Orr suggested the film "will be a once-in-a-generation cinematic masterpiece that Homer himself would, quite frankly, be very proud of."

The comments came at CinemaCon, an annual week-long summit at which Hollywood studios present their biggest upcoming movies to theater owners and press.

A theme of this year's event has been a drive to get studios to commit to keeping new movies in US theaters for at least 45 days before they appear on streaming.

A source with knowledge of the talks told AFP Wednesday that three of Hollywood's six biggest studios have committed.

Universal, which has in recent years brought many of its films to on-demand streaming very soon after they debut in theaters, has not yet agreed to the new 45-day "window," the source said. The studio did not immediately comment.

But its efforts to court movie theater owners Wednesday included showing extended new footage and A-list stars from the next Jurassic movie -- out this July.

It comes from the writer of the original 1993 "Jurassic Park." The action returns to that film's island setting.

Unlike the "Jurassic World" films where dinosaurs freely roamed the globe, the fearsome reptiles are now once again scarce, surviving in a few remote spots.

Star Scarlett Johansson said the film would "put the scares back into Jurassic" by keeping the dinosaurs hidden and ratcheting up the suspense.

Universal's presentation ended with surprise appearances from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, whose second and final "Wicked" film will hit theaters November.

CinemaCon concludes Thursday with presentations from Paramount and Disney.