La Scala, one of Europe's top cultural landmarks, will open its opera season in Milan Dec. 7 amid growing security threats from ISIS and a challenging production of "Joan of Arc."
Since the Paris terrorist attacks last month, the famed opera house has considered what security threats it may face during the upcoming season, and metal detectors have been installed as part of
preventive measures, The Associated Press reported.
La Scala has been "identified as a possible target for attacks," the wire agency said.
The venue's general manager, Alexander Pereira, said that he believes the additional security measures being taken will protect operagoers.
"I don't even want to start worrying," principal conductor Riccardo Chailly said. "Because it is beyond my powers to know or to control it."
Chailly, instead, is focused on the difficult product of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece, "Giovanna d'Arco," opening Monday as one of Europe's biggest cultural events. It's the first time the opera has been performed at La Scala in 150 years.
Chailly told the AP that the "Joan of Arc" opera is rarely performed because the music and staging are difficult.
"The music is very complex. But the producer has to deal with a very, very special context to this story, which has a lot to do with nightmares, dreams, visions, invisible battles. This complexity of the mind and the soul of Giovanna, to be staged and to be believable, is quite a complicated aspect to realize," he said.
Across Europe, ISIS threats are being investigated and are forcing shutdowns after the Paris attacks. In mid-November, the entire city of Brussels was locked down when the government raised its
terrorist alert level to four, The Guardian reported.
The recent climate summit in Paris, which drew world leaders, was held under
tight security measures that CNN termed "massive."
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