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)
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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."



'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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'Superman' Director James Gunn Remakes the Hero for the Big Screen

FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Director James Gunn poses at a photo call for the film Superman in Culver City, California, US, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

James Gunn, writer and director of the off-kilter "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, tussled with various ideas on how to deliver a new take on Superman to the big screen.

Gunn said he was aware of the many ways the noble hero had been approached since his 1938 debut, initially in comic books and then radio serials, television shows and movies.

The challenge was to deliver something fresh that would appeal to a new generation of moviegoers and reinvigorate Warner Bros Discovery's DC Studios.

His vision, in the movie titled simply "Superman," starts rolling out in international theaters on Wednesday and in the United States and Canada on Friday, Reuters reported.

In the opening scene, Superman, played for the first time by David Corenswet, is seen bloodied after a fight, an unusual portrayal for the Man of Steel.

"I wanted to take the character of Superman and just focus on a piece of him that we haven't necessarily seen before," Gunn said.

Gunn surrounded Superman with elements that enthralled him from the comics as a child. Superman lives in a world, Gunn said, with "superhero friends and giant monsters and flying dogs, robots and all this magical stuff."

The new film includes Superman's four-legged sidekick, a superpowered dog named Krypto first introduced in a 1955 comic. The latest version is based on Gunn's real-life, misbehaving rescue mutt.

Warner Bros is counting on "Superman" to start a new era at DC Studios, which has failed to match the superhero success of Walt Disney-owned Marvel. Gunn, who made the "Guardians" movies for Marvel, was named co-CEO of DC Studios, alongside producer Peter Safran, in 2022.

The pair have plotted a long-term slate that features a Supergirl movie for June 2026, a film based on Swamp Thing and TV shows for HBO Max. Wonder Woman and Batman also are expected to return to cinemas.

Gunn said the aesthetic that audiences see in "Superman" will not necessarily foreshadow future DC Studios endeavors. "I want to be really certain that every project has its own unique flavor," Gunn said.

"We're doing Clayface, and that doesn't feel like this movie. It's an R-rated horror movie. We're doing 'Lanterns,' which is an HBO show, which feels very much like an HBO show, very grounded, very kind of brutal. We have 'Peacemaker,' which is an adult show with a lot of emotion and a lot of comedy."

Gunn admitted he has felt the weight of responsibility to produce a hit.
"I've felt pressure all along," Gunn said. "That's been difficult."

But as he started to see initial reaction to the film, "I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "It's pretty fun. I'm seeing the effect the movie has on people."