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This is Milan’s – indeed, one of the world’s – top opera companies, where Verdi was once house composer, Callas formerly graced the stage and costumes are designed by top fashion artistes. Performances have now returned to this gloriously restored 18th-century theatre after three years at the purpose-built Teatro degli Arcimboldi.

Part bar, part restaurant, part pizzeria and part jazz club that doesn’t limit itself to jazz. In summer, the party spills out onto a barge moored opposite. Since 1971, “Monkeys” has been shaking up the Navigli nightlife scene with live music daily until 3am.

The “Giuseppe Verdi” Sym-phony Orchestra of Milan has since 1999 played in this reinvented 1930s’ cinema, which stood derelict for decades after World War II. Riccardo Chailly conducts concerts from late September to May.

This is high-tech nightclubbing, with TV screens, internet feeds, concerts broadcast live and a magnetic card that keeps track of your tab (you pay when you leave). The music ranges from modern pop and hip-hop to 1960s and 70s revival – the owners are a group of Serie A footballers who are often seen here when not on the field.

Cavernous Magazzini Generali is a little bit of everything. It has a stage and auditorium that seats 1,000 for live acts, it can become a huge disco, it has a gallery for exhibitions, and it fits in live poetry readings and more besides.

If you feel it just ain’t a club unless there’s bouncers and velvet ropes keeping the less-than-perfect at bay, then Plastic is the trendy spot for you. Inside, there’s a mix of techno, house and jungle – background to the pick-up scene for all tastes (Thursday is officially gay/lesbian night). There’s also a laid-back billiards room, with jukebox favourites.

Rolling Stone is as classic as the band after which it is named; a no-excuses, party-hard, rock-music discotheque filling a cavernous ex-cinema with huge crowds drawn to hear the best live rock acts of any venue in town. We’re talking everything from Iron Maiden to Van Morrison, Nick Cave to Oasis. Weekends – when there are no international rock stars on the bill – the sound system is turned over to Milan’s top DJs, and the crowd gets a chance to throw down some moves on the floor.

This arty Brera hold-out of bohemianism squeezes a tiny stage and an enthusiastic crowd into a narrow space to enjoy live music. It’s as popular as it is small; don’t expect to get a table, or be able to hear the person next to you.

This stalwart from the mid-1980s still offers you the best chance in all of Milan to spot a genuine international supermodel. Though a perfectly standard discotheque from 1986, glitzy Hollywood continues to draw the most beautiful people in town, so dress to impress.

Tunnel is actually a warehouse squirrelled away under the arches on the back side of the main railway station (Stazione Centrale). This is the place to catch the next big thing in Italian, and sometimes even international, alternative rock acts and top DJs.