Arena di Verona opera festival

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Verona Arena by night
Performance of Aida , 2006

The Opera Festival in the Arena di Verona (Italian: Arena di Verona Opera Festival , Festival Lirico all'Arena di Verona ) is an annual opera festival in the Arena of Verona .

history

In 1913 the first operas in honor of the 100th birthday of Giuseppe Verdi were performed in the arena . This gave the impetus for the festival, which was repeated annually from 1919 onwards. In 1936, the Ente Autonomo Spettacoli Lirici Arena di Verona ("Autonomous Organization for Lyrical Performances in the Arena of Verona") was established as a permanent organizer. In 1998 it was converted into the private Fondazione Arena di Verona foundation .

Opera performances

Between 1947 and 1954, Maria Callas appeared several times in the arena after celebrating a success with Ponchielli's La Gioconda . In 2019 Anna Netrebko appeared in a production of Il trovatore by Franco Zeffirelli .

Most popular pieces from the opera canon are shown to the audience. Above all, Verdi's opera Aida , which was played when the festival opened in 1913, has such a permanent place in the program that the arena is also known as the “Aida stronghold”. The productions are aesthetically often conservative, but are characterized by the splendor of large stage design elements, crowd scenes and the appearance of live animals.

Dance performances and classical concerts also take place in the arena. The Teatro Filarmonico has served as a second venue for an additional program since 1976 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Il Trovatore 2019 online tickets - Arena di Verona. Retrieved July 15, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Evan Baker: Aida. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 6: Works. Spontini - Zumsteeg. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-492-02421-1 , p. 483.
  3. ↑ Aida. In: Harenberg opera guide. 4th edition. Meyers Lexikonverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-411-76107-5 , p. 986.

Web links