Culture · Opera
Teatro alla Scala will open its 2026-2027 season with Verdi’s ‘Otello’
The Dec. 7 opening night begins Myung-Whun Chung’s first season as music director.
Teatro alla Scala will launch its 2026-2027 season on Dec. 7 with Giuseppe Verdi’s “Otello.” The opening night marks the beginning of Myung-Whun Chung’s first season as music director at Milan’s historic opera house.
Verdi composed “Otello” specifically for La Scala, where the opera premiered in 1887 to a libretto by Arrigo Boito. The new production opens a nine-performance engagement that runs through Jan. 5, 2027.
Director Damiano Michieletto is making his opening-night debut at La Scala with this production, his eighth staging for the theater. Set designer Paolo Fantin, costume designer Carla Teti, lighting designer Alessandro Carletti and dramaturg Mattia Palma complete the creative team led by conductor Chung.
The production features two rotating casts across its run. Tenor Brian Jagde sings the title role alongside Luca Salsi as Iago and Eleonora Buratto as Desdemona for performances on Dec. 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 and 22. For the final three shows on Dec. 29, Jan. 2 and Jan. 5, Arsen Soghomonyan performs as Otello, Roberto Frontali as Iago and Roberta Mantegna as Desdemona. The cast also features Juan Francisco Gatell as Cassio, Cristiano Olivieri as Roderigo, Huanhong Li as Lodovico, Nicolò Ceriani as Montano and Szilvia Vörös as Emilia.
The Dec. 7 opening and the performances on Dec. 10 and Dec. 13 are sold out, according to the theater.
Ahead of the opening, Teatro alla Scala warned patrons about unauthorized ticket brokers offering seats at markup prices before official sale dates. “We urge the public to be wary of any unauthorised sellers claiming that they can provide tickets outside the official sales channels,” the theater said in a public statement. “Furthermore, tickets may not be resold for profit at a price higher than that stated on the ticket.”
The opera house emphasized that third-party resellers cannot legally hold tickets before the official release dates published on its portal. “The only safe, guaranteed and transparent channel for purchasing Teatro alla Scala tickets is the official website www.teatroallascala.org,” the theater said.
