Various Artists News

Milan's La Scala has closed the uppermost seating gallery in the storied opera house while work is carried out to remove asbestos discovered months earlier, theater and city officials said Tuesday.

The opera house said some 270 seats in the top loggia will be closed and ticketholders offered "upgrades" to better seats when available or their money back. The work is expected to be finished by the end of October.

Milan's gala night to inaugurate La Scala's prestigious opera season traditionally is held on Dec. 7. But the theater's program includes other artistic offerings, including the ballet "A Midsummer's Night Dream," which begins on Saturday. Rehearsals were going on Tuesday.

La Scala spokesman Carlo Maria Cella said the asbestos was found in a "very limited" section of the lighting area near the cornice of the vaulted ceiling in December and immediately sealed until removal could be carried out during the summer break.

Monitoring by Milan health officials found there was "no spread" of asbestos fibers, Cella said in a telephone interview.

In Italy, when asbestos is found in structures, it must be quickly put under protective cover, to prevent dispersal of the fibers, which are highly hazardous to health. The asbestos can then be removed at a later date.

The theater had counted on removal being completed during the summer closure, but Milan health agency officials requested more "mapping" of the entire area of the theater, slowing down the start of removal, Cella said.

The city of Milan and the theater began work to remove the asbestos on Aug. 26, a La Scala statement said. The work will be done during the night, so rehearsals and performances can go ahead as scheduled.

Scaffolding has already been mounted at the upper gallery.

Earlier this decade, La Scala was ordered by courts to pay damages in two cases involving stagehands who contracted asbestos-triggered diseases while employed by the theater. The workers had come in contact with asbestos while handling fire retardant material protecting stage curtains. Cella noted that material was used decades ago before Italian law banned the use of asbestos in materials nationwide.