Uproar at La Scala

Tumult is not unknown at La Scala, the venerable Milanese opera house notorious for its demonstrative audiences. At this season's opening night, there was a different kind of uproar.

Outside the theater, violence broke out as police confronted a crowd protesting the Italian government's plan to cut state funding of the arts by 37 percent. Inside, conductor Daniel Barenboim read the riot act – in the form of a clause of the Italian constitution mandating support of cultural institutions – to the country's president.

John Hooper of The Guardian (UK) reports:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/07/italy-arts-protests-riots-scala