Following the announcement that the Teatro alla Scala was increasing prices of more than 30 per cent, protests erupted.

The Times of London is reporting that during a performance of “Carmen” last week, multicolored leaflets were thrown down onto the stalls denouncing the move as one that would “burden the theatre’s traditional audience” and demanding it be reversed.

According to the report, the theater will increase the price for 36 of the gallery’s best seats with the upper gallery’s most central seats rising from €100 (£86) to €130 (£112). Meanwhile, season tickets for the same places will rise from €800 to €1,050.

According to, Andrea Estero, head of Italy’s association of critics, the “gradual price rises risked excluding middle-class audiences through ‘exorbitant prices.'”

A spokesperson for the Teatro alla Scala said prices for those seats had remained unchanged for a decade and were part of a broader rise in ticket prices.

Read Related Stories

• Brian Jagde, Thomas Hampson, Renée Fleming, Luca Salsi, Francisco Meli, Juan Diego Flórez, Adela Zaharia, Eleonora Buratto, Anastasia Bartoli & Diana Damrau Lead Teatro alla Scala’s 2026-27 Season

• Marta Torbidoni Makes Unexpected Jump In at Teatro alla Scala’s ‘Nabucco’