This is CBSI on the world.

I'm John Batchelor.

To Milan, to my very good colleague Lorenzo Fiore,

celebration of Christmas in Milan, the city of light.

And yet we begin with the report on La Scala.

On December 7th, La Scala celebrates not only the patron saint of Milan, San Ambrosia,

but also the opening of La Scala.

And in attendance, our very own correspondent, Lorenza Fiori,

to tell us how the crowd welcomed the opera.

I understand it was a Russian opera and very serious.

Good evening to you, Lorenzo.

Good evening, John, and good evening to all the radio listener.

Let me tell you that I'm a lucky man because I had the opportunity to attend the prima at La Scala, and I can tell you that the opera was fantastic, at least to me, but I can tell you also for all the audience.

This was also qualified by something like 12 minutes of applause by the audience to everybody, from the orchestra director to the opera director

to all the orchestra, and particularly the singers, fantastic.

Why I could tell you that the opera was fantastic?

Well, first of all, I can tell you that the opera director is a very young man. I had

the opportunity to shake his hands. He's a Russian guy. Baraktov. He's very young, as I said.

And let me say, he drew a plot, a story of freedom and liberation, expressing the youthful energy that he has because of his age.

And let me tell you that this opera doesn't have a melody that you can remember, but the

music is very much tied to the plot of the story that is very dramatic.

It lasts three hours and 20 minutes.

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