The Phone Rings During the Opera, the Conductor: “Please Answer, Let’s Pick Up Later”
The story of the curious unscheduled at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan is going around the world
A phone rang during a concert at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. So Riccardo Chailly interrupted the opera. “Answer it, let’s pick up later,” said the conductor, emphasizing the unscheduled program.
The cell phone rang insistently in the moment of greatest emotion. It was the choir “Patria oppressa”.
The work is “Macbeth” by Giuseppe Verdi,
based on William Shakespeare.
Chailly explained to the audience that a recording was underway for a prestigious English record label.
“You see friends, there are many of us on this great Verdian journey with the orchestra and choir of La Scala, but we are not alone because we are making a recording for the Decca in London for which we will still be many more. It’s an important thing. ‘Patria oppressa’ with the obstinate ringing of the mobile phone is not possible”.
The words of the Maestro, reported by the media, have certainly frozen the owner of the device, defined in the various articles as “the jammer”. After long applause from the audience, the performance resumed. It all happened yesterday evening, Monday 7 June 2022.
The occasion was the second replica of the concert
of Verdi’s choirs and symphonies.
To be precise, with the concert beginning at 20 Italian times, the Chorus and the Orchestra della Scala were protagonists in a program dedicated to 21 choral and symphonic pieces composed by Verdi between 1842 and 1881.
Please note that in concert halls, cinemas and theaters the telephone must be switched off or silenced.
P. S. La Scala just yesterday presented the next season 2022/2023 with a program that includes 14 works, one more than the previous year, and many new productions. Eight ballet titles, seven symphonic concerts, and three great shows for children, for a total of 272 performances.
The traditional opening on 7 December will feature “Boris Godunov”, a masterpiece by the Russian Musorsgksij.
