Teatro alla Scala Museum

In 1911, the antiquarian Giulio Sambon put his extraordinary theatrical collection up for auction in Paris: a sprawling assemblage of opera memorabilia, ancient instruments, and theatrical antiquities. American magnate John Pierpont Morgan wanted it for the Metropolitan Opera of New York. But Milan had other plans. An emergency committee of government officials and fifty private citizens scrambled to raise 450,000 lire through telegrams, letters, and a hasty journey to Paris, negotiating down from the starting price of 700,000. They won. Two years later, on March 8, 1913, the Museo Teatrale alla Scala opened in Milan with Sambon’s collection as its core. Inside today: locks of Bellini’s blonde hair, Mozart’s dark curls, a cast of Chopin’s hand. Boito’s pen, Puccini’s watch, Rossini’s glasses, and Verdi’s first spinet, his handwritten Requiem score, and his grand piano. One museum rescue mission. One century of operatic relics. One city that refused to let its theatrical soul cross the Atlantic.