A tip of the baton to La Scala icon

Daniel Barenboim’s first concert as principal guest conductor at Italy’s famed La Scala opera house will be a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Arturo Toscanini.

The performance of Verdi’s “Requiem” is scheduled for Nov. 9, 2007, 10 months after the anniversary of the death of the titan of the podium. Barenboim’s tenure will continue through a complete performance of Wagner’s Ring cycle in 2011.

Barenboim’s appointment as principal guest conductor was reported last week and formally announced Monday. It’s a collaboration between the Milan opera house and Berlin’s Staatsoper, two of Europe’s oldest classical music institutions. Barenboim, 63, will remain general music director at Staatsoper and will conduct at least two opera productions each season for La Scala.

The announcement was made a year after conductor Riccardo Muti resigned as La Scala’s music director amid increasingly tense relations with the orchestra. Barenboim will not take Muti’s place, however, and the arrangement does not resolve La Scala’s lack of overall musical direction.