Teatro della Scala

For a music geek, visiting the La Scala in Milan is a dream come true. The only thing better than this would have been to be able to see a performance at La Scala, but given that the only things that were playing then were ballets, I reckon visiting the Museo Teatrale della Scala was a decent enough compromise.

I apologise in advance for the really poor image quality - photos weren't allowed inside so I couldn't whip out my Canon 550D, and I had to make do with my iPhone to sneak a few!

Franz Liszt's real piano.

I was standing so close to Franz Liszt's piano! To think that such a great composer once played on this instrument, it's incredible - I'm starstruck. And not only that; Giuseppe Verdi's piano was there too!

Giuseppe Verdi's piano.

The second floor of the museum contains a small section on the ballets that have taken place at La Scala - while La Scala is better known as a performance venue for operas than ballets, nonetheless there have been some pretty spectacular ballets that have been performed here. Nureyev, the great Russian dancer, once danced in these very halls.

Ballet costumes, I can't remember from which production. Look at the detail in design!

This is one helluva gorgeous tutu skirt.

A painting of Maria Callas, opera diva divine.

Maria Callas has to be one of the world's favourite sopranos ever to have lived: her performance of Casta Diva for Bellini's Norma was beyond compare, and her voice was so colourful and agile there was quite simply nothing like it.

Busts of Rossini and Beethoven.

Franz Liszt's piano, carefully placed beyond the reach of museum visitors.

One of the incredible things about Liszt's piano, I thought, was that it's still used even today as a playable instrument on special occasions! Whoever gets to play on that thing is ridiculously lucky.

Or probably just extremely well-trained and who has been playing piano 8 hours a day for the past 20 years. The amount of work that goes into performing well is something I don't think many people appreciate - you only ever see the final work, the polished finished product, but unless you go behind the scenes and see rehearsals a person will never understand how difficult it is to make it look easy.

An original La Scala poster for Verdi's Aida.

As far as I'm concerned, this was the best use of €6 that ever went into a museum! I don't suppose it will be of terrible interest to a person who isn't quite as into classical music, but for me this was the perfect way to spend a good morning.