Thirty-year-old conductor Daniel Harding is fronting this year’s opening night at La Scala. “Silvio Berlusconi’s tottering government is threatening to cut subsidies by 30 percent in a rage of scorched-earth legislation ahead of next year’s election. This could be La Scala’s last glamour night for a while and the designer-suit claques won’t let it pass without ructions. No pressure, but our boy – who posed beneath gleaming chandeliers in a Manchester United shirt for Gazzetto della Sport – will need to play a blinder if he is to avoid backlash from off-pitch dramas.”