100 times Arena di Verona!

“Verona’s Arena is the only theater in the world where music can also be heard with your eyes”: these words are from the tenor Giovanni Zenatello, who in 1913 had the brilliant idea to use Verona’s Arena for an outdoor opera performance the first time ever. That experiment was so successful that it is still repeated every year, confirming, more than a century later, the unique power of the Arena to excite at every show, as if it were the first, both the artists who performed onstage, both the audience, which has always played a leading role in the shows in this magical experience.

To celebrate Festival n.100, which comes 110 years after the first edition in an interrupted count because of the two world wars and the recent pandemic, the Arena Foundation has set up an unmissable schedule for summer 2023: a few steps from the Colomba Hotel d’Oro, the 4-star hotel closest to Verona’s Arena, the 2023 Opera Season will see eight different operas, plus some special shows that will include the Arena debut by Juan Diego Flórez on 23 July, the long-awaited return to Verona by Jonas Kaufmann on 20 August, and a symphonic concert by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Alla Scala for the first time on the stage of the Arena, on 31 August.

Here’s the calendar of the eight operas:

• Aida, which has always been the absolute queen of the Verona Arena, will be staged over 13 nights in a brand new production, in which Stefano Poda will take care of direction, sets, costumes and choreography: a “double premiere” on 16 and 17 June; and then on 25, 29 June; 9, 26, 21, 30 July; 2, 13, 18, 23 August; and finally two evenings in September: 3 and 8. In the performances of June 16, July 16, July 30 and August 2, the role of Aida will be interpreted by the Russian star Anna Netrebko.
• Carmen by Bizet, in the beloved version signed by the great Franco Zeffirelli, will be the star of 5 evenings: 23 June; 6 July; 11 and 24 August; and 6 September.
• Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia will take place on 24 and 30 June, and on 13 and 22 July.
• Rigoletto by Verdi will be staged on 1, 7, 20 July, and 4 August¸ in the performance on July 20 the role of the Duke of Mantua will be played by the world star Juan Diego Lopez.
• La Traviata, another masterpiece by Verdi, will be on stage on 8, 14, 27 July, 19, 26 August, and finally on 9 September on the final show of the Festival, in which the role of Violetta will be played by Anna Netrebko.
• Nabucco, another great Verdi classic, will be performed on 15 and 28 July; and on 3 and 17 August.
• Tosca by Puccini will take place on 29 July, 5, 10 August, and 1 September; And finally
• Madama Butterfly, also by Puccini, will be on stage, also in the version signed by Maestro Franco Zeffirelli, on 12, 15 August; 2 and 7 September. The last two performances, on 2 and 7 September, will see the debut in the Arena of Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, one of the most acclaimed in the world.

The shows will therefore take place in less than three months: from June 16, the inaugural weekend with a thousand surprises, to September 9, 2023.

The inauguration of 16-17 June will be an unprecedented show: a whole weekend in which the two performances of Aida will be linked by a “non-stop party” that will involve the audience in surprising ways, in two “white nights in music” that will end after dawn.

The Colomba d’Oro Hotel has always been the favorite residence of internationally renowned artists and personalities, who after having performed in the Verona Arena, love to spend a night here.

Enjoy and celebrate this exciting centenary at Verona’s Arena in the best way, treating yourself to a 4-star stay at Hotel Colomba d’Oro in the center of Verona.