In Un Vecchio Palco Della Scala Lyrics in English Luciano Pavarotti

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song In Un Vecchio Palco Della Scala by Luciano Pavarotti from Italian to English.

In an old box at La Scala

In January '93, a gala show

Ladies in low-cut gowns

Stepped down from a romantic coupé

So many people in the hall

All Milan is in grand soirée to hear Tamagno

Bellincioni as well

In an old box at La Scala

What a splendid season

What a rich bill

What a lineup of tenors and sopranos

Manon by Massenet

Carmen by Bizet

Fra Diavolo, Ernani

The Puritans

The Sicilian Vespers

Then from the old box at La Scala

There's the rendezvous at the buffet

A sip of Marsala, two, three marrons glacés

And at the exit the flower-girl of La Scala offers a little bunch of pansies

In an old box at La Scala in January of

Fifty-three, a gala show, ladies in low-cut gowns

Stepped down from a modern cabriolet

So many people in the hall

All Milan is in grand soirée to hear the composers

Bold and innovative, but it always comes back to the box at La Scala

Yet among the novelties

Still it flies on

The music of far earlier times

Manon by Massenet

Carmen by Bizet

Fra Diavolo, Ernani

The Puritans

The Sicilian Vespers

Then slowly the curtain falls

The lights go down in the foyer

The hall's already empty and nothing remains but

This old box of the old Scala

Of January '93

Now it's only a lie, the hall, the crowd's gone

This old box of the old Scala

Of January '93

Did you like these lyrics?

SONG MEANING

Transport yourself to the gilded balconies of Milan’s legendary Teatro alla Scala! Pavarotti’s In un vecchio palco della Scala is a nostalgic postcard that flips through the theater’s memory book. The lyrics whisk us back to a glamorous January evening in 1893, when horse-drawn coupés delivered ladies in dazzling décolleté gowns to hear icons like Tamagno and Bellincioni. We can almost taste the Marsala sipped in the interval buffet, smell the violets sold by the flower girl, and feel the hush before classics such as Manon or Carmen burst to life.

Fast-forward to 1953 and the scene repeats with sleek cabriolets and “audacious, innovative” composers, yet the same beloved operas still soar above the orchestra pit. Through these time-jumps the song celebrates La Scala as a timeless sanctuary where fashion, technology, and audiences evolve, but music’s magic remains untouched. By the final curtain the stage is dim and the old box stands empty, a bittersweet reminder that eras pass while great art endures in echoes and memories.

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Luciano Pavarotti In Un Vecchio Palco Della Scala Lyrics