The Italian Tourism Board hosted a magical evening last night in the Royal Academy of Music on Westland Row, announcing and celebrating the launch of the 102nd Arena di Verona Opera Festival for 2025.
The evening began in the downstairs room of the Vernon Studio with speeches from the ambassador and manager of the Arena di Verona.
The Arena di Verona is a temple of culture and beauty, every evening in the summer over 10,000 people flock to the biggest open-air arena in the world to sit under starry skies and enjoy incredible performances. From Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera Aida to the opéra comique style of Georges Bizet’s Carmen. The stage of the Arena di Verona alone stretches forty-four metres across and is 25 metres deep holding 500 actors on stage for some special performances.
42,000 people from 138 countries travel to Verona every year, making the small city a centre of culture and tourism in Europe. The Arena di Verona not only offers once-in-a-lifetime performances but is also integral to the backbone of Verona’s economy. Every season, over 1,400 people are employed by the Arena- from the orchestra to actors, the production crew to the hospitality workers.
We hear from the General Manager of Arena di Verona, Cecilia Gasdia, whose love affair for the opera began as a child when she was an extra in performances in the Arena, following that she joined the chorus for three seasons before becoming a renowned operatic soprano in her own right, performing many times in the arena since 1983. In her telling of her own story, you can sense the magic and importance of this beautiful venue in the lives of many people touched not only by the opera but by the production itself, “everytime I enter the arena, it feels like coming home,” she says.
Ms Gasdia then joins on piano for a magical performance of the taste of the opera with Soprano Gilda Fiume, Tenor Gianluca Terranova and Baritone Leon Kim. In a spine-tingling selection of pieces, we experience the tragic love story of Rigoletto, a beautiful solo piece from Aida, an ensemble piece from La Traviata and finally a fantastic ending piece of Turandot from Giacomo Puccini’s opera.
The evening finished off with an immersive cocktail reception with bite sized aperitivos, where tour operators, travel agents and journalists could soak in the magic of the performance they’ve just witnessed. Going back out to the streets of Dublin, it was hard not to think we had all travelled to and back from Verona this evening!
The 102nd Arena di Verona Opera Festival programme will be as beautiful as ever with the following dates:
Opera:
Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi- a new production taking place on 13th, 14th, 21st and 28th of June, 10th 17th, 24th, 31st of July, 9th, 16th and 21st of August and the final date of the 5th of September.
Aida, Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera- will take place on the 20th and 29th of June, 6th, 13th, 16th, 20th and 27th of July, the 1st, 10th, 17th, 24th and 28th of August, with its final date on the 4th of September.
La Traviata, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera will launch on the 27th of June with performances on the 5th, 11th, 19th and 25th of July alongside the 2nd of August
Carmen by Georges Bizet will take place on the 4th, 12th, 18th, and 26th of July, the 14th, 23rd and 29th of August and ends the 3rd of September
Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi will take place on the 8th, 22nd, 30th of August and the 6th of September
With Gala’s ‘Roberto Bolle and Friends in coproduction with ARTEDANZA will take place on the 22nd and 23rd of July, Jonas Kaufmann in Opera will take place on the 3rd of August, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff will take place on the 15th of August and finally Viva Vivaldi: the Four Seasons Immersive Concert will take place on the 27th of August.
Following these exciting performances you can also catch the Ballet at Teatro Romano ‘Zobra il greco’ on the 26th, 27th and 31st of August
