Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" will soon be musically interpreted, as La Scala in Milan has announced they plan to stage the documentary as an opera. No Al Gore hasn't started warming up his vocal pipes just yet; instead a group of tenors and one soprano will form the cast that tells the story of global warming in the key of E. Gore will however receive some of the writing credit for the musical venture and he has already thrown his support behind the initiative and plans to attend opening night with his wife.

The new show won't open until 2011, however Giorgio Battistelli, who is writing the music, already has a vision of what it will look like and what he hopes it will accomplish.

“Opera makes you reflect. Artists make you see things differently,” he said. “When we see a painting by Francis Bacon or a film by Sydney Pollack, we get a very precise idea of the problems of our century.”

“I thought it could be a good idea to deal on this important occasion with a subject that involves not only Italy but the world,” Battistelli, 55, added. “It will be about the tragedy of our present situation. It is a great challenge to write an opera on such an unusual subject. It is certainly not the story of Romeo and Juliet.”

For a special (and hysterical) musical "preview" of the opera (read: the first of what will surely be many parodies), watch the video below.

» Times Online