The Day the Music Died

Despite a sellout crowd for Strauss' "The Woman Without a Shadow" (in my opinion, he should have stuck with waltzes) and the presence of Sophie Loren (I was THIS close) on opening night, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino company members are in full protest.

Last month, Italy's president signed a decree reducing salaries and allowing early retirement for female musicians and dancers (lowering the age from 52 to 45-years-old) in an effort to save money. According to The Florentine, from 2004 to 2008, the lyric and symphonic foundations in the country (not the major national symphonies and opera companies) lost 100 million euro--70 percent of that money goes toward salaries.

The musicians say it will be the death of the theater. To make the point, they've been hanging sheets with scrawled messages outside the windows of Teatro Communale (not a lot of poster board in the country, apparently).

On strike, they cancelled the May 2 performance.

And yet, Florentines still crammed the ticket window on a Saturday morning....