By J. S. Marcus [WSJ, 21 May 2010]

Milan: Italy’s major opera houses were shut down this month, when unions, protesting government budget cuts, managed to cancel performances from Rome to Turin. The biggest casualty was the May 13 premier of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” at Milan’s La Scala, meant to usher in a new Daniel Barenboim Ring cycle intended for both Milan and Berlin’s Staatsoper Unter den Linden, where Mr. Barenboim is general music director.