Milan, 17 July 2021 - All the artists and workers of La Scala were shocked and moved to learn of the death of Graham Vick.
Graham Vick was one of the most significant figures in contemporary directing, a Maestro capable of revealing the power of the scores he staged and rediscovering their ability to question and move the audience.
Vick made his La Scala debut in 1996 with the world premiere of Outis, Luciano Berio's penultimate opera, with libretto by Dario Del Corno, David Robertson conducting. There was some controversy but it was a success, and the theatre asked Vick to stage the opening of the 1997/98 season with Verdi's Macbeth conducted by Riccardo Muti. La Scala had never dared such an abstract and contemporary staging for a Verdi opera, much less for a 7 December, but at the end there were 13 minutes of applause. Vick returned to La Scala for a new Verdi opening with Riccardo Muti in 2001: Otello, starring Plácido Domingo, made use of Ezio Frigerio's supreme scenic elegance and Franca Squarciapino's costumes, but still offered the same geometric vision of space as in Macbeth. In 2005, la Scala hosted the celebtated production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin from the Glyndebourne Festival, in 19th-century costumes amidst ears of corn. Vladimir Jurowski conducted. In 2019, Vick returned to La Scala with a new production of Korngold's Die tote Stadt conducted by Alan Gilbert, visionary and vibrant with political and sensual passion, starring Asmik Grigorian. Five memorable productions, as different from each other as Vick's productions always were, all combining rational acuity, boundless theatrical culture and emotional impact, intimate sensitivity and political dimension.