Economist.com Cities Guide: Milan Briefing - October 2005

News this month

The race begins

The run-up to Milan's mayoral election in May 2006 started in earnest in September. The first candidate to throw her hat into the ring was Ombretta Colli, a former president of Milan province (and a former member of Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party). Ms Colli surprised many by announcing her intention to stand for the centrist Liberal Democrats. Letizia Moratti, Italy’s minister of education, is expected to run for the centre-right. Ms Moratti enjoys the support of Milan's current mayor, Gabriele Albertini, who must step down at the end of his second term.

On the centre-left, Umberto Veronesi, an oncologist (and a former head of Europe’s National Cancer Institute), said he may join the race. Other possible candidates for the centre-left include Bruno Ferrante, the prefect of Milan, Livia Pomodoro, a judge, and Ferruccio De Bortoli, the editor of Il Sole 24 Ore, a financial newspaper.

Parmalat returns

Parmalat, a beleaguered Italian dairy-products group, has returned to the stockmarket. On October 6th, nearly two years after collapsing under the weight of a €14 billion ($17 billion) debt, Parmalat started trading on Milan's stock exchange. The new Parmalat may face a take-over bid. Possible bidders include Granarolo, its rival in the dairy-products market, and Lactalis, a French dairy group.

The dairy giant's return to market was preceded by the appearance in a Milan court of Calisto Tanzi, the company's founder, and 15 others. Mr Tanzi, who was head of the family-controlled firm when it was declared bankrupt in December 2003, is charged with share-price manipulation, false accounting and obstructing the role of Consob, a market regulator, in a scandal once termed “Europe’s Enron”.

A tight squeeze

September bought more turmoil to La Scala, Milan's troubled opera house, which re-opened last December after a €61m ($73m) refurbishment. Members of the opera house's 80-strong ballet corps complained of crowded facilities, and threatened to hang up their tutus unless their changing rooms were enlarged. A strike by the dancers could have affected La Scala's big draw this month: “L’Histoire de Manon” by Kenneth MacMillan, starring Sylvie Guillem, a celebrated French ballerina. But in early October Stephane Lissner, the opera house's new superintendent and artistic director, who is known for his conciliatory style, struck a deal with the performers. He offered them roomier facilities in an adjoining building, and the strike was called off.

La Scala has been plagued with challenges in recent years. In April, Riccardo Muti, the musical director at the time, stepped down, citing difficulties with other members of staff. And in September, Marco Tronchetti Provera, the chairman of Pirelli and an important sponsor, left the board of directors.

A new trade fair

After its official inauguration by Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister, in March, Milan’s new trade fair building finally opened for business in mid-September. The futuristic structure, built on the outskirts of the city, will host big trade exhibitions. A new subway station, the Rho-Fiera, is now running between the venue and central Milan.

Redevelopment of the fair’s former venue in central Milan will begin next April. Four architects—Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Arata Isozaki and Pier Paolo Maggiora—have contributed to the design of a complex which will feature offices, apartments, green spaces and, unusually for Milan, three skyscrapers.

Paradiso in Milan

Crowds are steadily pouring into Santa Maria delle Grazie, one of Milan's most beautiful churches, to listen to nightly readings of “Paradiso”, the last book in Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy”. Read by Vittorio Sermonti, a Dante scholar, the hugely popular event follows Mr Sermonti's readings of “Inferno” and “Purgatorio” in 2003 and 2004. Loudspeakers in the piazza outside the church cater for those unable to find a seat inside. “It is the antithesis of the banality of our times,” one of the attendees told Corriere della Sera, a newspaper. Mr Sermonti’s nightly readings, which take place at 9pm, Monday to Friday, will continue until October 26th.

Catch if you can

October 2005

Caravaggio and Europe

October 15th-February 6th 2006

Visitors to Milan this season should not miss the chance to see some of Caravaggio's finest works on display at the Palazzo Reale. This high-profile exhibition brings together more than 150 paintings, including a selection of works by 17th-century European artists who were influenced by him. The first part of the show displays masterpieces such as “Judith with the head of Holofernes” (pictured) and a recently restored “San Giovannino”. In the second part, the influence of Caravaggio's use of dramatic lighting and realistic figures on Baroque painters is highlighted in works by, among others, Jusepe de Ribera, (a Spanish painter who worked in Naples), Gerrit van Honthorst, Simon Vouet and Mattia Preti.

The exhibition will go on to Vienna’s Lichtenstein Museum in March 2006.

Palazzo Reale, 12 Piazza Duomo. Tel: +39 (02) 54919. Open: Mon 9.30am-2.30pm, Tues-Sun 9.30am-7.30pm (Thurs till 10.30pm).

More from the Milan cultural calendar