Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Since the 19th century, La Scala Theater Orchestra has played important roles outside its main function of accompanying operas at the city's La Scala Opera House. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the orchestra has been led at one time or another by most of Italy's most prestigious conductors.
La Scala Theater Orchestra (Italian: Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala) was recognized for its exceptional quality as it performed at the world premiere of operas by Rossini and Verdi in the 19th century, originally with the first violinist, or, in the very early years, the harpsichordist, as the leader. The orchestra's first conductor was Alberto Mazzucato, who ascended the podium in 1854. His successor Franco Faccio instituted independent concerts in 1872, and the orchestra appeared in Paris during the Exposition Universelle in 1878, one of the first major world's fairs. That triumph led to the establishment of a Società Orchestrale della Scala, which put the group on a firmer institutional footing. Offering two concert seasons annually, the orchestra stimulated the growth of instrumental music in Italy, formerly heavily dominated by opera. The orchestra became self-governing in 1920, under the name Ente Autonomo del Teatro alla Scala. It engaged Arturo Toscanini as its conductor in 1920; he took the group on tour internationally, enlarged it to 100 members (it now boasts 135), and greatly raised its profile in the larger musical world. Toscanini remained music director until 1929 and was followed by some of the top conductors of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Victor de Sabata, Carlo Maria Giulini (principal conductor from 1954 to 1956, with many later appearances and recordings), Claudio Abbado (who led a reorganization that officially named the group the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala), Riccardo Muti (1987-2006), Daniel Barenboim, and, as of the early 2020s, Riccardo Chailly. The roster of guest conductors who have appeared over the years reads like a list of legends, including Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, and Valery Gergiev.
The orchestra's recording catalog stretches back into the 78 rpm era (digital reissues of some of its recordings under Toscanini are available on the RCA label) and includes some of the most famous opera recordings of all time. Under Barenboim, the orchestra recorded Verdi's Requiem for Decca in 2013 and has issued several other recordings of non-operatic works, including an album of Respighi's orchestral music under Chailly in 2020.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Bellini: Norma, extraits (Mono Version)
Maria Callas, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Don Carlos (1886 Version, Mono Version)
Boris Christoff, Antonietta Stella, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Gabriele Santini
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Mono Version)
Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana (Mono Version)
Pietro Mascagni, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Beniamino Gigli, Giuletta Simionato
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Aïda
Maria Chiara, Luciano Pavarotti, Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milano, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Lorin Maazel
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1969
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre (Remaster)
Herbert von Karajan, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Opera - Released by Nar Classical on Feb 27, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi : Il Trovatore
Ettore Bastianini, Antonietta Stella, Fiorenza Cossotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Le trouvère, extraits (Mono Version)
Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Herbert von Karajan
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi Rigoletto
Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1956
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies from Tartini, Cherubini, Respighi & Verdi
Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra E Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala
Classical - Released by Ermitage Rc on May 19, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il Trovatore
Carlo Tagliabue, Maria Callas, Gino Penno, Ebe Stignani, Antonino Votto, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Classical - Released by NAR International on Sep 17, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (International Version)
Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Claudio Abbado
Classical - Released by Universal Music Group International on Jan 1, 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leoncavallo: Paillasse - Verdi: Chœurs d'opéras (Mono Version)
Franco Corelli, Lucine Amara, Lovro von Matacic, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Opera Choruses
Riccardo Muti, Mirella Freni, Dolora Zajick, Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milano, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi : Un ballo in maschera (Live, Milan 1957)
Maria Callas, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il trovatore (Highlights. Stereo Version) (Stereo Version)
Fiorenza Cossotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Opera Extracts - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Extracts (Mono Version)
Herbert von Karajan, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Maria Callas, Nicolai Gedda
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Giuseppe Verdi: Opera Choruses
Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milano, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Claudio Abbado
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boito · Mefistofele
Nicolaï Ghiaurov, Carlo Bergonzi, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano
Classical - Released by G.O.P. on Apr 24, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bellini: Norma (Mono Version)
Maria Callas, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Giordano: Andrea Chénier (Mono Version)
Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano, Oliviero de Fabritiis
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on Jan 1, 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo