Milan's La Scala set for lavish Zeffirelli "Aida"

MILAN, Dec 7 (Reuters) La Scala opera house is set to launch its new season of performances today with a blockbuster ''Aida'' that marks director Franco Zeffirelli's first new production at the famous Milanese venue in 14 years.

With the aim of returning Italian opera to its roots, the 83-year-old Zeffirelli is calling his lavish staging of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece ''the 'Aida' of Aidas''.

It will be ''vast and rich, everything white and gold,'' the veteran film and opera director told Corriere della Sera newspaper, promising ''a great spectacle full of Italian pride.'' The most expensive tickets were 2,000 euros ( MILAN, Dec 7 (Reuters) La Scala opera house is set to launch its new season of performances today with a blockbuster ''Aida'' that marks director Franco Zeffirelli's first new production at the famous Milanese venue in 14 years.

With the aim of returning Italian opera to its roots, the 83-year-old Zeffirelli is calling his lavish staging of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece ''the 'Aida' of Aidas''.

It will be ''vast and rich, everything white and gold,'' the veteran film and opera director told Corriere della Sera newspaper, promising ''a great spectacle full of Italian pride.'' The most expensive tickets were 2,000 euros ($2,657) each.

But the 'Aida' buzz among Milan's notoriously demanding opera goers was so fierce that all 11 performances at La Scala were sold out within 24 hours of tickets going on sale.

Verdi's 1871 opera involves Aida, an Ethiopian princess who is captured and brought into slavery in ancient Egypt. An Egyptian general, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the pharoah.

In the end the lovers are willingly buried alive singing ''Goodbye, vale of tears''.

In Zeffirelli's production, for the signature triumphal march of Radames at the end of the second act, more than 300 cast members will be on stage and eight trumpeters will descend from above to play suspended over the stage.

Some 200 kg (440 pounds) of gold dust have been used to make the mask of Tutankhamun which will dominate the stage.

Soprano Violeta Urmana will sing the role of Aida, and tenor Roberto Alagna is Radames.

Zeffirelli said this week his aim was saving Italian opera from ''criminal'' foreign directors who corrupt the art by tampering with the librettos and the staging of works.

''If we don't take shelter against such barbarity, our children won't even know what opera is,'' Zeffirelli, who also directed the 1968 movie version of Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet,'' told Corriere.

La Scala music director Riccardo Muti was forced out last year in a clash in which Zefferelli put his weight behind a staff rebellion -- and put himself at odds with then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a friend but also a Muti supporter.

VIPS expected to attend ''Aida'' include Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

REUTERS PB VC0930 ,657) each.

But the 'Aida' buzz among Milan's notoriously demanding opera goers was so fierce that all 11 performances at La Scala were sold out within 24 hours of tickets going on sale.

Verdi's 1871 opera involves Aida, an Ethiopian princess who is captured and brought into slavery in ancient Egypt. An Egyptian general, Radames, struggles to choose between his love for her and his loyalty to the pharoah.

In the end the lovers are willingly buried alive singing ''Goodbye, vale of tears''.

In Zeffirelli's production, for the signature triumphal march of Radames at the end of the second act, more than 300 cast members will be on stage and eight trumpeters will descend from above to play suspended over the stage.

Some 200 kg (440 pounds) of gold dust have been used to make the mask of Tutankhamun which will dominate the stage.

Soprano Violeta Urmana will sing the role of Aida, and tenor Roberto Alagna is Radames.

Zeffirelli said this week his aim was saving Italian opera from ''criminal'' foreign directors who corrupt the art by tampering with the librettos and the staging of works.

''If we don't take shelter against such barbarity, our children won't even know what opera is,'' Zeffirelli, who also directed the 1968 movie version of Shakespeare's ''Romeo and Juliet,'' told Corriere.

La Scala music director Riccardo Muti was forced out last year in a clash in which Zefferelli put his weight behind a staff rebellion -- and put himself at odds with then-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a friend but also a Muti supporter.

VIPS expected to attend ''Aida'' include Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

REUTERS PB VC0930