La Scala cheers Zeffirelli’s return

Franco Zeffirelli was cheered and showered with roses on the opening night of his new production of Verdi’s “Aida” at La Scala on Thursday night in Milan, Italy, making his triumphant return after a 14-year absence from the opera house where he first made his mark.

The audience applauded for more than 15 minutes after the final curtain fell, standing to cheer Zeffirelli, conductor Riccardo Chailly and a cast led by mezzo-soprano Violeta Urmana in the title role and tenor Roberto Alagana as Radames.

Zeffirelli, who made his La Scala debut in 1953, hadn’t directed a production at Milan opera house since opening the 1992-93 season with “Don Carlos.” His long absence, he said, was partly because “I had a lot to do in the 1990s. And I did not get along with [Riccardo] Muti,” who resigned as music director in 2005 amid difficult relations with the orchestra.