Pelléas et Mélisande (opera) Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels on 9 January 1907. This was followed by foreign premieres in Frankfurt on 19 April of the same year, New York City at the Manhattan Opera House on 19 February 1908, and at La Scala, Milan with Arturo Toscanini conducting on 2 April 1908. It first appeared in the United Kingdom at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 21 May 1909. In the years following World War I, the popularity of "Pelléas et Mélisande" began to fade somewhat. As Roger Nichols writes, "[The] two qualities of being escapist and easily caricatured meant that in
La Scala to follow opera libretti in English and Italian in addition to the original language. The opera house re-opened on 7 December 2004 with a production, conducted by Riccardo Muti, of Salieri's "Europa riconosciuta", the opera performed at La Scala's inauguration in 1778. Tickets for the re-opening fetched up to €2,000. The renovations cost a reported €61 million, and left a budget shortfall that the opera house overcame in 2006. Carlo Fontana, the general manager of La Scala since 1990, was dismissed in February 2005 by the board of governors over differences with the music director, Riccardo Muti. The resulting staff