The inauguration of the 100th Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2023 is taking place on 16th and 17th June. RAI will be broadcasting the opening night, with Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov worldwide.

Aida has always been the opera queen at the Arena, the most performed, and the best loved. It was chosen by tenor Giovanni Zenatello in 1913 to celebrate the centenary of Verdi’s birth: the work that best combines great music, compelling intimist drama, and spectacular scenes. It all began with that first, legendary season and today, on the threshold of Festival number 100, Aida will be back with all the power of Verdi’s immortal genius, in a completely new performance.

The direction, sets and costumes are all the work of Stefano Poda, multi-talented artist who, for more than twenty years, has been staging beautifully crafted productions in theatres all over the world, as seen in various video recordings. Poda will be debuting at the Arena di Verona with the opening title of the 100th Opera Festival 2023, which will see a double “first” on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th June: “Aida’s story is the that of a world at war”, says Poda, who has conceived a universal, interdisciplinary performance that aims to speak to everyone, “a war that divides two neighbouring peoples into mortal enemies. But the opera itself ends with a whisper of peace: A Dantesque journey that from infernal beginnings, ends in a finale with a celestial vision”.

As announced in the last few months, the inauguration will reserve more surprises of great interest, starting with the lead performers. Aida will be performed by soprano Anna Netrebko and Radamès by tenor Yusif Eyvazov, opera’s “golden couple” on stage and off, artists of international prestige and friends of Arena di Verona, a constant presence at the Festival, even in the difficult period of 2020-2021, and performers of reference when it comes to their roles in Verdi’s opera. Radamès has been Eyvazov’s trademark since his debut in the Amphitheatre: his performance has made him one of the world’s artists of reference for this role - one of Verdi’s most demanding. Anna Netrebko’s performances in Aida have been highly selected, beginning with her debut in Salzburg with no less than Riccardo Muti: “historic”, “unsurpassable”, “textbook”, “majestic”, “a performance that will never be forgotten” are just some of the terms critics used after seeing her in the Arena as Aida, which “no one has ever performed this way”, a triumph with the public, through to the final standing ovation. 

Thanks to the partnership with Arena di Verona srl and Rai Cultura, and to the important work carried out by Gianmarco Mazzi over the last few years, the inaugural evening on 16th June will be broadcast live, worldwide, by RAI. 

“It is the culmination of years of work”, concludes Cecilia Gasdia, General Manager and Artistic Director of Fondazione Arena, “after the consolidated restoration work and the two years of the pandemic. Even during the most difficult moments, Arena di Verona has remained a point of reference for the Art of Italian Opera Singing, which is now a candidate for the UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage, a source of inspiration and entertainment, as well as a driver of the economy and tourism. This success has been made possible by all those who work at the Fondazione, the Board of Trustees, the Institutions and the joint forces of the patrons of the 67 Columns for the Arena di Verona, a project now in its third year, of partners, and of sponsors. Our heartfelt thanks go to all of them.”

There is great excitement for Festival number 100 at the Arena, and there are still many details to be revealed for an event that attracts an audience from all over the world, every year. It is a resource for the city and the local area, thanks to the revenues generated, which are estimated as being over 500 million euros every year, according to recent university studies. 

The programme of events has been released and has been on sale since last June. It represents an artistic, productive effort never seen before: by 9th September, the 100th Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2023 will have seen 50 unmissable evening performances, alternating eight opera titles, four gala evenings and an extraordinary concert with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala. 

INFORMATION

Press Office Fondazione Arena di Verona 

Via Roma 7/D, 37121 Verona

tel. (+39) 045 805.1861-1905-1891-1939 

ufficio.stampa@arenadiverona.it ∙ www.arena.it 

Box office

Via Dietro Anfiteatro 6/B, 37121 Verona

tel. (+39) 045 800.51.51 

biglietteria@arenadiverona.it

Presale points TicketOne 

www.arena.it  

100th Arena di Verona Opera Festival 2023

from 16th June to 9th September

Aida

by Giuseppe Verdi | Directed by Stefano Poda | NEW PRODUCTION

16, 17, 25, 29 June AT  21.15 | 9, 16, 21, 30 July AT 9:00 p.m.

2, 18, 23 August AT  8:45 p.m.| 3, 8 September AT 8:45 p.m.

Carmen

by Georges Bizet | Direction Franco Zeffirelli

23 June AT  9:15 p.m.| 6 July AT 9:00 p.m.

11, 24 AugustAT8:45 p.m.| 6 SeptemberAT8:45 p.m.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

by Gioachino Rossini | Directed by Hugo de Ana

24, 30 June AT  9:15 p.m.| 13, 22 July AT 9:00 p.m.

Rigoletto

by Giuseppe Verdi 

1, 7, 20 July AT 9:00 p.m.| 4 August AT 8:45 p.m.

La Traviata

by Giuseppe Verdi | Direction Franco Zeffirelli

8, 14, 27 July AT 9:00 p.m.| 19, 26 August AT  8:45 p.m.| 9 September AT 8:45 p.m.

Nabucco

by Giuseppe Verdi | Directed by Gianfranco de Bosio

15, 28 July AT 9:00 p.m.| 3, 17 August AT 8:45 p.m.

Roberto Bolle and Friends

19 July AT 9:15 p.m.

Juan Diego Flórez in Opera-Arena 100

23 July AT 9:00 p.m.

Tosca

by Giacomo Puccini | Directed by Hugo de Ana

29 July AT 9:00 p.m.| 5, 10 August AT  8:45 p.m.| 1 September AT 8:45 p.m.

Plácido Domingo in Opera-Arena 100

6 August AT 9:00 p.m. 

Madama Butterfly

by Giacomo Puccini | Direction Franco Zeffirelli

12, 25 August AT8:45 p.m. | 2 , 7 September AT8.45 p.m.

Jonas Kaufmann in Opera-Arena 100

20 August AT 9:00 p.m.

Teatro alla Scala in Arena di Verona

31 August AT 21:00