Will Diego Della Valle help La Scala theatre?
The artistic director of Milan’s La Scala theatre, Stephane Lissner, has said that the theatre is “in danger” of becoming a private entity, due to declining government spending on the arts in Italy.
This could mean that Diego Della Valle, president and CEO of leathergoods firm Tod’s, could take control of a new cultural cause, according to WWD. Mr Della Valle is a member of the La Scala Foundation, which provides private contributions to the theatre. State contributions to the theatre have decreased significantly over the last 15 years. The government provided 61% of La Scala’s funding in 1998. Last year the percentage dropped to 47%. This year that number was 37.5%. The drop could allow for Mr Della Valle and the La Scala Foundation to increase their funding and take on bigger roles in running the theatre.
Support from Mr Della Valle would not be unprecedented; in December 2010 he and Tod’s announced a $36.5 million donation to rebuild Italy’s most famous ancient relic, the Colosseum.
