In 1911, in Paris, the antiquarian Sambon put up for auction a lot of memorabilia of extraordinary value relating to music and theatre. In America, the tycoon John Pierpont Morgan tried to add them to his own collections, to establish a theatre museum at the Metropolitan Opera in New York; and in Italy a courageous group was created, supported by the Government and by Vittorio Emanuele III.

The major exponents of the Milanese bourgeoisie and the protagonists of the musical world (Duke Uberto Visconti di Modrone president of the Teatro alla Scala, Giacomo Puccini, Umberto Giordano, Arrigo Boito, the tenor Enrico Caruso, the publishers Ricordi and Sonzogno), gave battle and in the end they won. That first lot marked the birth of Museo Teatrale Alla Scala which opened its doors for the first time in 1913.