What was the first opera performed at Milan’s La Scala?

Europa riconosciuta was the first opera performed at Milan’s La Scala.

Antonio Salieri’s opera opened the theatre on 3 August 1778, when La Scala was inaugurated in Milan. The libretto was written by Mattia Verazi and draws on the mythological figure Europa, whose story is intertwined with political rivalry, love, and recognition.

The opera was written in the late eighteenth-century tradition of opera seria, which emphasized noble characters, formal dramatic structures, and demanding vocal writing. Although it was central to La Scala’s opening, it was rarely performed for many years afterward.

La Scala revived Europa riconosciuta in 2004 for the reopening of the restored theatre after renovation. The event helped renew interest in Salieri’s work and corrected the common assumption that Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco was La Scala’s inaugural opera. Nabucco became strongly associated with the house, but it premiered there decades later, in 1842.