Acclaimed Italian film,
television and opera director Franco Zeffirelli said he would
sue Tuesday over moves by La Scala opera house to allegedly
"banish" his 2006 production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida from its
repertory.
He bemoaned a decision to sell the production to a theatre
in Astana in Kazakhstan, saying "La Scala's vile procedure will
require the firm intervention of the magistrature".
Zeffirelli, 91, accused the powers-that-be at the Milan
opera theatre of considering him "an artist to be forgotten".
The production of Aida in question opened the 2006/2007
opera season at La Scala to wide public acclaim.
On Tuesday Zeffirelli, who is a former Senator for Silvio
Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party, described his
creation as "the best production of this masterpiece that I have
ever brought to the public" and "of great value and merit".
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