Opera Under Construction.(theater renovations)(Brief Article)

Every opera house is a work in progress, none more so than La Scala. Since it opened, in August 1778, it has undergone periodic repairs and, most dramatically, been reconstructed after the 1943 bombing of Milan. Time has taken a toll, and La Scalds doors will close again this January for a major overhaul that will bring the house into the twenty-first century. "This work could not be delayed," says La Scala spokesman Paolo Soraci. As a safety feature, new exits are planned that respect the architectural integrity of the palazzo; acoustics will be improved by new seating and the installation of a wooden floor. State-of-the-art stage machinery will replace hydraulics that date from the 1920s, and enlarged stage space will make it possible to fly out the enormous pieces of scenery that hitherto had to be built in sections. Until the reopening of their beloved La Scala in the 2004-05 season, loyalists must make their way north of the city to the sleek new $17.2-million Theater of the Arcimboldi, designed by Vittorio Gregotti. "The public will be most decidedly saddened that they cannot attend the historic house for a few years," says Soraci, "but will be happy that they can still see its artistic productions, even if in a different place."

Fire has been a natural enemy to Italy's theaters for centuries, most recently ravaging Venice's Teatro La Fenice in 1996. It has yet to be reborn from the ashes, but take heart -- there is good news from Venice. While the city deals with disputes and delays, Fenice's orchestra and company are taking up residence in the freshly restored 900-seat Teatro Malibran. The elaborately decorated building opened in 1678 as the Teatro di San Giovanni Grisostomo -- on the site of another building destroyed by fire -- but after Maria Malibran sang two benefits for the theater in 1835, the owner gratefully renamed it. It

was the city's premier musical house until 1792, when La Fenice opened, and remains, as Bonlini described it in 1730, "a true kingdom of marvels." Playwright Carlo Goldini once served there as "theater poet," heeding singers' requests for new or rewritten arias and recitatives. The city of Venice acquired the Malibran almost ten years ago and immediately launched the restoration. A concert by La Fenice's choir and orchestra, conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky, ushered in the new era at the Malibran, and while we await La Fenice's latest renascence, Teatro Malibran returns luster to the musical life of La Serenissima, the city that ruled as queen of opera in the seventeenth century.

Moving day is almost at hand for Seattle Opera. While its home undergoes a much-needed $125-million overhaul, the company will pack up and relocate to Mercer Arts Arena, where it plans to remain from January through the end of the 2002-03 season. "Seattle has built a name for itself nationally and internationally in a facility that was outdated years ago," says Speight Jenkins, the opera's general director. The 1927 building, much remodeled ...