Before the end of the 100th Arena Festival, the Arena Foundation looks ahead to its new century of great music and entertainment by unveiling the program for the next two years. The year 2024 coincides with other important anniversaries.
The first is the centenary of Giacomo Puccini’s death, the most famous and performed opera composer in the world alongside Verdi. The Arena Foundation inaugurates the 101st Festival on Saturday, June 8th with “Turandot,” paying homage to Puccini with his most spectacular and fairy-tale title in Franco Zeffirelli’s dreamy production and costumes by Oscar-winning Emi Wada. Puccini is also honored with “Tosca,” featuring Anna Netrebko in one of her most recent and acclaimed roles from La Scala in Buenos Aires, as well as a new special project that will see two performances of “La Bohème” with an exceptional cast.
Maintaining its position as the largest and most popular repertory theater in the world, the Arena Foundation will also present the latest productions of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and “Carmen.” And of course, “Aida” will be featured in two different stagings: the first ten performances will see the return of the “crystal” production from the 100th Festival, directed by Stefano Poda, with transparencies, innovative lighting effects, and rich symbolism suspended between Ancient Egypt and contemporary art; then, exactly 111 years after the first “Aida” in the Arena (August 10, 1913), from August 10th, a classic evocative staging from 1913 by the late maestro Gianfranco De Bosio will return for five performances, commemorating the centenary of his birth.
The 2024 Arena Festival will be complemented by 5 special evenings
The grand dance performance by Roberto Bolle and friends returns on July 23rd and 24th; on August 11th, the Arena ensembles will take center stage in an evening event featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and his “Ode to Joy”; on August 21st, Plácido Domingo returns in an evening with Spanish atmospheres, joined by numerous opera stars; and on September 1st, the second lyric-symphonic event featuring Orff’s “Carmina Burana” will take place.
Some changes for the next edition
One of the most significant changes for the 2024 Festival is the alteration of the starting times for the performances: shows in June will start at 9:30 PM, in July at 9:15 PM, and in August and September at 9:00 PM. The ticket prices will remain the same as in 2023 and will go on sale around August 28th on arena.it and through Ticketone, the ticket vendor partnered with Unicredit.
The presentation of the 2025 Festival
For the first time, two years in advance, the Arena Foundation also presents the program for the 102nd Festival in 2025: 47 evenings from June 13th to September 6th. Returning to the stage will be the most recent “Aida,” Zeffirelli’s rendition of “Carmen,” the elegant 2011 production of “La Traviata” by De Ana, set against a backdrop of Belle Époque tapestries and mirrors, “Rigoletto,” and “Carmina Burana.” The double appointment with Roberto Bolle and Friends is confirmed, along with a special operatic gala. The focal point of the season will be a new and significant staging of “Nabucco,” the quintessential choral and Arena drama, which will open the 2025 Festival with a two-part performance.
