New strike at La Scala opera house
MILAN (AFP) — La Scala's personnel will go on its second strike in a week on Saturday, forcing the famous Milan opera house to cancel two shows, union officials said, sparking concerns about its next season.
"We're waiting for (La Scala's artistic director) Stephan Lissner to propose a reopening of the discussions," Renato Zambelli, general secretary of Milan's CISL union said Friday.
The strike over better wages and working conditions follows a similar walkout last Friday which cancelled a performance of Verdi's "Requiem."
La Scala will again cancel "Requiem" Saturday, which was to have been conducted by Daniel Barenboim in Parma as part of 50th-anniversary celebrations of the death of celebrated Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini.
A Saturday evening performance of Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" will also be cancelled.
La Scala's 800 workers want salary increases and better working schedules, arguing that between 2001 and 2007 the number of performances staged had increased from 164 to 273.
The strikes have raised questions about the 2007-08 season that begins December 7 with a performance of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde."
The performance is also to be conducted by Barenboim, who is due to play a key role at the opera house in the next five years.
"We don't want to block the start of next season but the intransigent attitude of the management complicates matters," Zambelli said.
La Scala's management could not be immediately reached for comment.
Lissner was quoted last week by an Italian newspaper calling the last strike "serious and unacceptable."
