AllMovie

The home release Teatro alla Scala: 50th Anniversary Concert commemorates the semicentennial of the reconstruction of the titular opera house - the nerve center of opera in Milan, Italy. Destroyed during the Allied bombings in WWII, the building opened its doors following reconstruction, its first performance on May 11, 1946. Fifty years later, on May 11, 1996, the institution staged this anniversary concert, with a veritable "best of" opera. Extracts are included from Rossini's Guglielmo Tell and Mosè in Egitto,Verdi's Nabucco, I vespri siciliani, La forza del destino and Te deum; Puccini's Manon Lescaut; and Boito's Mefistofele. Soloists include: Mirella Freni, Luciana d'Intino, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Vincenzo La Scola and Samuel Ramey.