MILAN, Italy, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Tickets for the reopening of Milan's renovated La Scala opera house were fetching $2,000 each from scalpers, The Scotsman reported Monday.
The 18th-century building has been closed for three years for a facelift and modernization that ran 20 percent over budget at $80 million.
The old seating stalls were built over the rubble of a World War II bomb crater covered with concrete and a carpet that muffled sound. It was all ripped out and replaced with 12 layers of resonant material and a noise-reflecting oak floor. In the tiered boxes that soar up vertically from the stalls, linoleum tiles were peeled off to reveal original terracotta floors.
For its first night back in business Tuesday, La Scala is putting on the same opera when it first opened in 1778, Antonio Salieri's "L'Europa Riconosciuta." Attending will be designer Giorgio Armani, who will escort actress Sophia Loren. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is also due to make a rare appearance with his family.
