La Scala Experience takes you far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and deep into the history of music. Go back in time to the elegance of high society in the 1800s, when ladies wrapped themselves in fur and gentlemen wore elegant tails for concerts and ballets at one of Italy’s most beautiful theatres. La Scala still has that magic. You can visit authentic theatre-costume workshops and try on original costumes, meet musicians and dancers and, at the end of the day, enjoy the opera from an exclusive loge.

La Scala Theatre is not only the leading opera house in Italy, but is recognised as the most prestigious and famous opera theatre in the world. It was inaugurated in 1778 by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and was named La Scala (originally Nuovo Regio Ducale Teatro alla Scala) in honour of the gothic-style church called Santa Maria alla Scala that previously occupied the site. Designed by Italian neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini, the opera house soon became a hot spot for Milanese and indeed European high society. The theatre has seen Italian composers of the likes of Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi host premieres of their operas, not to mention the debuts of violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, opera singer Maria Callas, and the works of the most acclaimed conductor of the first half of the 20th century, Arturo Toscanini.
Our La Scala Experience includes the impressive archive accumulated by the theatre over the years: music scores, letters, posters and memorabilia relating to a multitude of eminent musicians, composers and dancers, currently kept at the Archivio Storico Ricordi. The tour offers a unique opportunity to visit the world’s largest private music collection, a 200-year-old testimony of opera: the Teatro alla Scala archive includes scores handwritten by Niccolò Paganini dating back to 1744, Giacomo Puccini’s original libretto of La Bohéme with his notes, Verdi’s own scores and many other authentic documents.

Immerse yourself in the history of La Scala, its rich décor of red velvet and gold leaf, its unique atmosphere; and enjoy a world-class performance too, with our personalised La Scala Experience.

Contact us to book or request more information about this tour.